


The Man In Black

by pkfb269



Series: The Man In Black [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Anal Fingering, Biting, Cunnilingus, F/F, F/M, Felatio, Gratuitous depictions of sex, Magic, Magical Artifacts, Oral Sex, Rimming, Sex, Swearing, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-04-05 15:10:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 40,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4184520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pkfb269/pseuds/pkfb269
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma was raised in foster care as a troubled child. She has no family and few people whom she would consider a friend. <br/>She became a lone hunter which led to her meeting Sam and Dean Winchester. After a while she and the brothers began to travel together and develop a familial bond. <br/>This is the story of how Emma meets and falls in love with a demon, Crowley, while she falls victim to some ancient magics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Emma's First Demon

I sighed a soft sigh as I turned onto my side, fast asleep. I had my knees bent slightly, one of my hands was palm down on the mattress in front of me, the other hanging over the edge of the bed. I have no idea what I'm dreaming of, 90% of the time I don't remember my dreams, I'll occasionally get an image quickly pop into my head as I eat my breakfast. Some idyllic castle in a green field here, the face of an ex lover and a churn of nostalgia in the pit of my stomach there. The dreams that I do remember are the ones that really fascinate me. They're always so vivid that I find myself replaying them in my mind throughout the day. They also seem so perfectly normal that when I wake I'm not sure which reality is true. 

I sigh again as one leg comes up and then pushes back down to push the bed sheets further away from me. Tossing and turning through the night is nothing new, i'm completely accustomed to detangling myself from bed sheets each morning, but I wasn’t alone in the motel room and my sleeping habits were completely fascinating to him.

__________________________________________________________

The Man in Black sat in the motel chair, which was turned to face her full on. He'd lost track of how long he'd been there. It could have been hours, but he was so transfixed on her sleeping body that he simply did not care. He had stopped by to check up on the progress of the two hunters but the tall one was fast asleep in the main area of the motel room to which her room adjoined. The other one was gone. Probably drinking and womanising; as per bloody usual. He exhaled impatiently. He'd sent them out on a mission to find an amulet that was said to hold ancient powers. Just one more to add to the collection. Because of his career, collecting books of spells and magic rings came with the territory. He couldn’t allow anyone to come into possession of any item that would give them an advantage over him, especially not after that wretched redhead had tried to take over his domain, he was still dealing with the fallout of that little scene. Of course, he was completely capable of retrieving the trinket from the clutches of the witch who currently possessed it, but he just couldn't be bothered. Besides, it was fun to make the hunters do some dirty work for him, not only did it make them feel terrible for working with him, but it reminded all parties involved that he was in fact, in charge. He was about to leave when the sound of a soft sigh and a body shuffling in the adjoining room caught his attention. With the two hunters being brothers, they didn't bother with adjoining rooms, so it must mean that there's a third party, one that The Man in Black didn't know about.

__________________________________________________________

I had been completely exhausted from a day of travelling and having to mediate the minor squabbles that resulted from hours of the two brothers playing silly pranks on each other in the car. When we checked into the motel I was so tired that I'd had to go straight to my room, my intention was to sleep until daybreak. I'd only half-heartedly swung the door closed when I'd entered and it hadn't shut completely. I didn't mind the boys in the other room being so close, I'd been travelling with them for about 10 months and we'd developed a close bond. They were almost like two older brothers to me now. It’s a strange feeling, having two people I can fully rely on and trust, not to mention the fondness that blossomed in my heart for them.

I'd grown up in foster care as one of those textbook troubled brats with behaviour issues. No matter how many people took me into their home and pretended to be my mommy and daddy, I'd never grown close to them, not a single one of them. I knew that when they found out what a freak I was they'd pack my bags and send me back, like returning an ill fitting pair of shoes to the store.

The kids in the centre with me had issues of their own and as a result, none of us could trust each other. Despite the unspoken respect we felt because we knew we were all going through the same thing, it was a dog-eat-dog situation and we all had to do what we could to survive. There was no trust when you knew that the kid you were sharing a room with would steal your last bit of cash if it would help them get out of dodge.

__________________________________________________________

The Man in Black slowly and silently pushed the door open. He liked to know absolutely everything about those two brothers especially when he could use it against them, whether it be a quick quip in conversation to cause them both a moment of discomfort, or a bargaining chip in his favourite game; blackmail. 

With his interests piqued, he peered around the room, eyes noting every detail whilst he searched for anything that would elude to the identity of the mysterious figure slumbering in the bed. The curtains hadn't been drawn and the moonlight lit up the room adequately for his silent search. There was a string of clothing discarded across the floor; jeans, sneakers and the like. Next to those was a rucksack, bulging full but closed tightly. It looked like the room's occupant had undressed, dropped their belongs to the floor and gotten straight into bed. There was no sign of a wallet or a cellphone, so no chance of checking ID or personal messages for information. Those items were probably in the rucksack. The Man in Black knew he wasn't going to be able to get that open without making a noise. Once he was content that he had gained all he could from the objects in the room, he turned his eyes towards the bed, towards her.

He could see blonde hair, some spread across her pillow and some obscuring her face from his view. Allowing his eyes to wander down her form, he noted a t-shirt with some form of winged design across the front, half hidden by one of her arms. His gaze lingered across the tattoos adorning the flesh of that arm; a rose, a mermaid and some stars inked in a traditional style and highly coloured. She had a dark coloured polish on her nails and it was chipping away. Bringing his eyes back to her body, he followed her t-shirt further down. She was in her underwear, simple black cotton. Her bare legs were bent at the knees and the bed sheets were tangled around her ankles.

A smirk played on his lips as it seemed to him that the hunters had gotten themselves a new plaything. Now he had to figure out how to use her to his best advantage. There was kidnap, of course, but not yet, it wouldn't do to bargain something when he didn't know it's true worth. He's a professional after all.

He turned to leave. He could visit in the morning when the three of them would likely be awake. It wouldn't be a complete loss, knowing how overprotective the boys can get over their toys, simply being in her presence would make them squirm.

The girl on the bed sighed and rolled over onto her back, bringing an arm up and over her head. Her face was now exposed so the man in black stepped a little closer to become familiar with her features.

Her face was rounded, a small mouth and soft-looking, plump lips parted as she breathed, a small nose with a slight bump on the bridge, thick eyelashes extending from her closed lids, and softly arched blonde eyebrows framing her face. He took a particular interest to the small scar over her left eyebrow and his brow furrowed as he felt uneasy at the thought of her being physically harmed at some point in her life. He began to reach out his hand and his fingers hovered mere millimetres over the scar.

The Man in Black suddenly stood straight while letting out a small hiss. He couldn't believe what he was doing! Was he really going to caress her face? Why was he angry because of her past injury? He was the king of rotten, dammit, this is not adequate behaviour for the ruler of all things unholy.

In that moment and despite his disgust in himself, he was completely consumed. He needed to know absolutely everything about her, who is she, what is she that she could have this effect on him? He knew he wasn't getting any answers by standing and staring at her, but he simply could not look away and nor did he want to. With a soft click of his fingers, a chair vanished from its place neatly tucked under the desk on the other side of the motel room and simultaneously appeared right behind him as he sat down, crossing his right ankle over his left knee. He rested his right elbow on the arm of the chair as he gave the dark stubble that covered his chin an absentminded scratch.With another soft click of his fingers, a glass of scotch appeared in his left hand. He relaxed as best he could into the hard motel chair, his face dark and moody in the moonlit room with his eyes trained on her.

As he sipped the amber coloured liquid from his glass, his thoughts wandered. He suddenly found himself remembering the events of last year. He tugged at the collar of his black shirt as he remembered the feel of the heavy iron collar padlocked around his neck, and he clenched his fists as he remembered the warded handcuffs that had bound both of his wrists.

Memories like that were nothing to him, he could suppress them in an instant, hell he'd been in that situation many a time with those two damned brothers. It was what had happened while he was bound this particular time that kept flooding back. Every time he was alone or he found himself bored by the mundane, trivial crap that came with his career, he found his mind slipping back to those long, agonising hours in that abandoned, run down church with the shaggy haired, tall brother.

He remembered sitting there, in that chair. He remembered those painful injections pushed into his neck and how he'd started to... Well, he'd started to feel things. He remembered thinking about the times he'd seen couples kissing at airports after being apart for so long, how he'd picked up on the sharp scent of nerves and hormones as he saw strangers flirting with each other in bars... It should have sickened him, the thought of those completely ordinary sacks of meat being totally enslaved by their emotions, but the words he'd shouted out in that church rang sharp and clear in his mind, almost as if he himself was shouting them just next to his ear; "I DESERVE TO BE LOVED!".

Shaking his head to try and rid himself of that particular memory, The Man in Black noticed that sun was coming up over the horizon and the room was beginning to brighten. Now that he could see her completely clearly, he began to look at the finer details of her appearance; the sandy blonde shade of her hair, the natural rosy glow of her cheeks. He looked at her closed eyes and wondered what colour they were underneath those thick, long lashes.

He was abruptly brought out of his thoughts as the door to the main motel room crashed open and he could hear a gruff voice booming in the other room; "GOOD MORNING SLEEPING BEAUTIES! It's a brand new day full of monsters to gank!"

She stirred from her slumber with a groan, angling her hips downwards as she pressed her ass into the mattress to stretch out her back with her arms straight up over her head. Her stretching had caused her t-shirt to lift a few inches allowing a glimpse of soft, delicate skin.

"Bollocks..." He whispered, unable to stop himself from licking his lips almost hungrily. Just before she began to pull herself upright, the Man in Black vanished into thin air.

 


	2. The Demon in the Motel Room

I took in a deep breath as I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Stopping suddenly, I caught a faint smell of something rather potent. Was that.... Whiskey? The boys didn't normally drink whiskey.... 

"C'mon, I got egg McMuffins all round!" The voice boomed at my doorway.  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm up!" I shouted at the door as I reached for my favourite blue jeans. Correction; my only blue jeans, my other pair had gotten ripped on that last hunt. Mental note to self; buy new ones. I stood as I pulled the jeans up and started walking towards the door, simultaneously buttoning up the three buttons at my waist.  
"What the hell?" My bare foot collided with the motel chair next to my bed. My toe instantly began to throb as I glared at the chair. It was angled so that it was facing the bed. Did I put that chair there?  
"Dammit!" I yelled as the throbbing refused to go away. Recalling my steps last night, I remember going into the room and swinging the door somewhere towards being closed. I had dropped my rucksack on the floor, kicked off my shoes and took off my jeans. I'm pretty sure that after that I'd sat on the bed, pulled off my bra from under my t-shirt then gone straight to sleep. I certainly did not move that chair. Why would I need to? 

My thoughts were interrupted by a head peeking into the room from the doorway. "I heard you shout, are you ok?" The head asked with deep concern etched on the face. The head belonged to Sam Winchester, one of the two brothers I travelled with on these hunting trips. He was tall, about 6'4 I'd estimate and he was handsome looking, all glorious hair and chiselled cheek bones. I've got to admit, I had a bit of a crush on him in the early days. Now not so much, this whole hunting business didn't leave much time for romantic relationships. After a hunt, we could guarantee we'd be soaked in the gore and innards from whatever creep we'd just executed, and even when we weren't out on a hunt, we were researching how to kill the next thing that was trying to bring an end to all humanity. Not exactly the most ideal situation for sexy times.  
"Yeah, fine, I just stubbed my toe on the chair, which I do not remember putting there..." My protest was more to myself than in reply to Sam.  
"Well you were pretty exhausted last night." Sam chuckled. "Are you coming through? Dean got us breakfast."  
"Yeah..." I trailed off following him into the other room. "Maybe this motel is haunted! Poltergeist?" I added a bit louder and Sam threw me a quick smirk over his shoulder.  
My thoughts about that haunted chair soon evaporated as Dean put a styrofoam cup full of hot tea in front of my face. "Here you go, your wakey wakey juice. I dunno why you can't just have a coffee like the rest of us, that stuff is disgusting!". Sam chuckled to himself. "See? Sammy agrees with me!" This was another reason why romantic relationships couldn't develop, neither of the boys had any culture. I clicked my tongue as Dean changed the subject. "Now what's this about poltergeists? Something happen last night?"  
"Her chair moved on it’s own so that she could stub her toe on it." Sam offered with a playful grin.  
"Oooooh, spooky!" Dean teased, simultaneously ruffling my hair.  
"Yeah, yeah, just shush and gimme the food, I skipped dinner last night and I'm starving!" I sat down at the small, stained table and hungrily bit into my breakfast. "Anyway, are you just getting in? Where exactly were you all night?" I asked of Dean through a mouthful of breakfast.  
"Uh uh," Sam quickly interrupted. "You do not want to know the answer to that!" Dean simply grinned, his own mouth so full of food that his cheeks bulged out like a hamster. I laughed and finished off my breakfast. I knew the answer to that question anyway, Dean was off with some woman he'd picked up at whatever dive of a bar he was in last night. The way Sam tried to keep me from the details of Dean’s personal life was amusing, almost like he was protecting my innocence or something. Come to think of it, he did this a lot. I looked at Sam over my tea and wondered if he had began thinking of me in the same way that I think of him, like a sibling. That mushy feeling in my heart bloomed a bit more as I thought about the relationship that had formed between the two brothers and I.

Relaxing back into my chair with my right arm crossed over my waist and my left elbow resting on the right wrist, cup of tea in hand, I took a moment to take in the sight of Sam. He was sitting across the table from me, hunched over a newspaper, reading intently with cup of coffee on the table to his right. His jaw length, brown hair was tousled from sleeping on it all night. He was wearing a dark green v-neck tee shirt, the sleeves were quite tight over his muscular arms. I had to admit, he was damn beautiful, that cute nose that was ever so slightly pointed at the end, that strong jawline, those sideburns so carefully shaped, and of course those adorable little moles that punctuated his face just next to his nose and on his chin. My imagination went for a little wander as it created an image of teenaged me in highschool with Sam as my brother. I can guarantee that all my friends would have been begging me to introduce them to Sam while he would have been preoccupied with trying to keep boys away from me.

I snapped out of my reverie when I heard Dean clear his throat loudly. Looking up at him I found he was staring straight at me with both eyebrows raised.  
"What?" I asked, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.  
"Okay," Sam interrupted, having missed the small exchange between Dean and I. "I'm going for a shower and then we'll work out a plan for this case."  
"K" Dean replied, still looking at me.  
Sam headed into the bathroom and I heard the door click shut. The sound of running water came shortly after.  
"What was that?" Dean asked.  
"What was what?"  
"The way you were looking at Sam there. What was that? Are you into him or something?"  
"Ha!" I snorted unattractively. "Oh you're kidding me right? Me into Sam? God no! I was just realising that I'm starting to think of him as some kind of brother or something. It's kinda nice, I didn’t have that growing up..." I trailed off and looked down into your now empty cup. All that Sam and Dean knew about my life before meeting them is that I don’t have parents or siblings and I’m kind of a loner. I know that the two of them are all each other has, so I guess they didn’t need to ask any questions, what with the situation being so familiar and all.  
"Huh, well." Dean lowered his eyebrows into a more neutral expression. "Just let him down easy, K?"  
That was a shock. I looked Dean right in the eye and demanded "What do you mean 'let him down easy'?"  
"Aw c'mon, isn't it obvious? Sammy's got a major boner for you!" Dean had lowered his voice, obviously not wanting what he was saying to carry through the bathroom door.  
"Ok first, that was crass, second, that's ridiculous! He totally sees me like a little sister or something, he's so overprotective of me!"  
"Psssh! I see you as a little sister and I don't come running into your room when you stub your toe on a damn chair! Why do you think I've been staying clear of the motel all night, I was giving you two some space to work out whatever's going on between the two of you!"  
Now that stunned me into silence for a bit too long. I didn’t know what to think let alone say.  
"Awkward...." Dean mumbled into the silence.  
"Just a bit." I replied, eyes down. Now I needed to change the subject "But you see me as a little sister, huh?" I had a massive grin on my face and that blooming in my chest was back and intensifying quickly. My own strange little family, it was fair from picture book perfect, but it was more than I’d ever had before.  
I looked up at Dean to see his reaction. "OH GOD!" I figuratively shit myself and jumped up from my chair, causing it to topple to the floor. Dean jumped up from his seat, suddenly brandishing a knife and looking incredibly dangerous. Hunter’s instinct, if I wasn’t suddenly fighting my own fight or flight response I would have taken the time to admire that.  
"Not quite." a gravelly British accent answered. This creep was just standing there behind Dean and given me the fright of my freaking life.  
He was dressed in an expensive looking suit, black from head to toe with a steel blue patterned tie.  
"Hello, girls." The accent said slowly.  
"What the hell do you want?" Dean lowered his knife and looked irritated. There was a definite familiarity between Dean and the Man in Black, this was a little relaxing for me, but my heart was still hammering away because of the shock his sudden presence had caused.  
"Crowley!" Sam's voice came from the other side of the room where he had just exited the bathroom, obviously alerted by the noise. His hair was dripping wet and pushed back from his face. He held a gun out in front of him and was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.  
"Crowley...." So I’ve got his name now, but it doesn’t ring any bells. Looking between Sam and Dean I asked "Is this another one of your angel friends?" I’d met Castiel quite a few times by this point, but the way he just popped in and out, not making any noise at all, he’s just suddenly there, I’m nowhere near used to that yet.  
Crowley chuckled, making me look at him. Studying him a little more careful, I took in his amused smirk and you know what, he was actually quite handsome. "I'm not an angel, pet. I'm the King of hell."  
Shit.  
"Demon?" I managed to squeak, angry at myself that my usual bravado seemed to have gone on vacation.  
"Now I do believe you have me at a disadvantage." He continued. "You've got my name, but I haven't got yours" he drawled as he walked around the table. Crowley seemed to over emphasise and drag out the word "yours" as he came right behind me, making me feel like a rabbit caught in the headlights. I hoped that shiver that just went down my spine wasn’t visible.  
I tried to swallow and inhale slowly to try and steady my erratic heartbeat. Is that whiskey I smell? Why is that familiar to me?

_________________________________________________________

For the past hour Crowley had been in his office, trying to get his head together after his strange encounter with the sleeping human. He had found himself pacing back and forth in front of his desk, lost in his thoughts. Who on earth was that creature? Why was she with the bloody Winchesters? Why was he so bloody fascinated with that simple creature?  
He had tried to busy himself with some paperwork in order to forget all about her.  
"Uptake of souls, blah blah bloody BLAH!" He shouted as he threw yet another scroll down on his desk and rubbed his temples with his fingers of one hand.  
There was a knock at the door and one of his servants entered.  
"Sire, I heard shouting, is everything ok?" The demon asked, not looking his king directly in the eye.  
"Of course everything is ok, I just...." He stopped. Was he really about to explain himself to the help? The human seemed to have gotten to him more than he thought. He stood and came around his desk to approach his demon servant. Without a word, he drew an angel blade and stabbed it into the demon's gut.  
The demon bent forward slightly, mouth and eyes wide open as a light flashed from inside of him. Crowley pulled out the blade and the demon collapsed onto the floor, dead.  
He walked over to his drinks cabinet and put both hands onto the edge. He sighed and tried to calm himself. He poured himself a glass of scotch, Royal Lochnagar, 12 years old. It wasn’t his favourite brand, but this particular highland single malt was hard to find and tasted of vibrant spices, leather, sandalwood and a coffee maltness that he liked to sip as he contemplated, calculated and conspired. He sat down at his impressive mahogany desk and rested his head against the tall back of the matching chair and exhaled a drawn out sigh.

He had no idea what had come over him, why he was so worked up or why he could not get the image of that mundane creature out of his head.  
He was pretty certain that he was still under some effect of that attempt to "cure" him of being a demon, oh yes he could bank on that being part of what was happening here, but surely there had to be more to it than that.  
Absentmindedly, he slipped his hands into his pockets in the vague hopes that some witch's hex bag will bring an explanation to light.  
Sighing again as he pulled out his empty hands, he picked up his glass and took a long sip.  
“Sod the kidnapping, I'll just kill the wench.” He said aloud. “That will be one way to deal with whatever it is that she has done to me.” He lifted his chin up at the thought, though he didn't quite have faith in his ability to carry it out.

He snapped his fingers and another of his demon servants came rushing into the office.  
"Yes sire?" A young looking male asked.  
"There seems to be a mess on my rug. Clean it up. I've got business to attend to."  
With that, he vanished from his office and simultaneously appeared in the motel room standing behind Dean Winchester and staring directly into her eyes. 

So, she has blue eyes.


	3. A Compromising Situation

Sam Winchester lowered his gun and crossed the motel room in five strides. Gripping my arm firmly, he pulled me towards himself, and away from the demon king of hell, Crowley.

"Sam, what are you doing?" I asked of him in a low voice. My heart was calming down from the shock of the visitor suddenly appearing in the motel room I was sharing with Sam and Dean.  
"I want as much distance between you and him as possible" he replied, not taking his eyes off Crowley, and also not taking his hand off my arm.  
"It's ok, I'm ok." I assured him as I gently pried his hand off me.  
I wasn’t entirely sure, but I thought I saw Crowley looking at the way Sam gripped me and there may have been a small flicker of something pass over his face. Was that anger?  
“She has nothing to do with you.” Dean said to Crowley as he sat back down in his chair. Turning my way he added “He’s a douche, ignore everything he says.”  
"You wound me, Squirrel." Crowley said. I couldn't help the small smile from creeping onto my face as I heard Crowley's nickname for Dean. I gotta remember that one for the next time Dean teases me... Crowley looked my way and cocked his head to one side slightly. I had to break his gaze and glance down at the floor, I felt a little embarrassed and exposed that he’d caught my amusement at the exchange. _Come on Emma, there's a demon in the room, the first demon you've ever met so do not let your guard down_ I mentally rebuked myself.  
"Angels, demons, yeesh, what have I gotten myself into?" I mumbled to myself. Keen to take control over at least some part of this weird situation, I turned to Sam. "Sam, you're dripping wet, go dry off and put on some clothes." I let my eyes run over Sam's naked torso, taking in the anti-possession tattoo on the left of his chest and the silvery-white scars dotted across his muscular body from the countless fights with too many monsters over the years.  
"Me and Dean can handle a demon, king or not." I straightened my spine to make myself look a little taller and tougher. I don’t know if this attempt to prove I wasn’t affected by Crowley’s presence was more for the present company or for myself.  
"Emma..." Sam began.  
"Run along Samantha. I'm here to discuss business, not to hurt your new plaything." Crowley quipped, clearly agitated by Sam's overprotective display. I couldn’t help myself, I coughed out a small giggle at his nickname for Sam and Crowley turned his attention to me again. I could feel his gaze penetrating my every fibre and I felt completely naked, as if he had torn my very soul wide open and was reading me like a book. "Emma, is it? Pleasure to make your acquaintance, pet." When he winked at me I felt a blood rush to my face. Please don’t let me turn red!  
"Like I said, what do you want?" Dean interrupted impatiently from the table. Dean didn't seem too bothered by the demon in the room, though I could see the knife he had rested on his thigh. I decided to follow his lead and I pulled up a chair next to Dean, diagonally across the table from our demon visitor.  
"Skipping the foreplay are we? Fine. I came to find out why I don’t have my amulet yet. What’s the hold up boys?" Crowley said, taking a seat of his own.  
"Wait a minute, that amulet we’re hunting is for this guy? What the hell are you doing working with demons, Dean?” I felt the side of my lip turn up in a grimace as understanding washed over me.  
“Unfortunately this dick bag has information that can help us with the other thing we’re working on.” Dean sighed. “Of course, he wouldn’t just give us the information we need without us doing something for him in return. It’s just an amulet right?”  
“Just an amulet? Uh huh, sure, and the Antarctic is just a little cool.” I sagged in my chair like a stroppy teenager.  
“We had no choice!” Dean retorted.  
“I’d hate to interrupt your little catfight here, but I’m still waiting for an answer.” Crowley interrupted us and I kept my mouth shut as Dean recounted the story so far.  
While they were talking, I took the time to properly look Crowley over. He looked completely at ease and totally sure of himself, almost arrogant. He had short dark hair, low-set thick eyebrows and deep eyes that seemed to penetrate everything they looked at. His stubble added some kind of dark mystery to him and he had the shadow of a smirk seemingly permanently etched onto his thin lips.  
I watched as he unbuttoned his jacket to make himself comfortable and my gazed continued down his body to take in his attire. He wore a black shirt, buttoned right up to the top with a tie that was a steel grey colour with a pattern in a darker shade across it, the knot was expertly tied. His jacket, also black, had a single red flower pinned to the left lapel. Underneath the jacket I could see a black waistcoat with three buttons and peeking out from under that, there was the glimmer of a silver belt buckle. I noted the perfectly pressed crease running down the centre of his trouser legs and he wore shoes that must have been recently polished as there was not a single scuff on them. Damn, this guy sure knew how to dress, and there was me in comparison; bare feet, the jeans I'd simply picked up off the floor and I was wearing the same ratty old Aerosmith t-shirt that I’d travelled in for 8 hours yesterday and then fallen asleep in. I quickly ran my hands over my hair, tugging out a couple of knots before giving up on the hopeless cause.  
I allowed my eyes to work their way back up Crowley's body and slowed my gaze a little at his crotch as I wondered what kind of underwear he would choose to go under such a suit. I felt a small flutter in my stomach that took me by surprise. I coughed and shifted myself in my chair to try and shake that weird feeling off. My heart dropped a little when I looked back up to his face and found that he was looking right at me while Dean was reading aloud from some old looking book. In that moment I felt so guilty, like I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t have. Wait, demons can’t read minds, can they? 

Sam came back from the bathroom and I turned to look at him, thankful for the distraction.  
"So what's going on." Sam said as he sat down on the bed a few feet away from the table.  
"Well, Moose, as you seem completely incompetent in retrieving a bloody amulet from a simple bloody witch, I'm coming with you to make sure you get the job done properly." Crowley said, finally taking his eyes off me. I couldn’t help but let out a small breath, I felt like I’d been released from the grasp of some dangerous predator. Some dangerous, mysterious and sexy predator… I suddenly realised what was just said.  
"Wait, he's coming with us? But he's a demon!" I exclaimed in shock.  
"Unfortunately yes. We just discussed the terms, you were right here?" Dean looked at me with a look of bewilderment on his face.  
"It seems your pet was lost to her own thoughts." Crowley said coolly as he smirked at me.  
No, really, demons can’t be able to read minds, I’ll have to kill him and then myself if they can!  
"Whatever," Dean snapped at Crowley. "Only one of us is showered so why don't you poof out of here while we get ready and we'll call you later?"  
"Fine. I'll see you boys, and girl, later." Crowley stood up from the chair. He nodded his head toward me "Until then, my dear." With that he vanished and I shuddered.

"Oh he is not going with us, I don't want him anywhere near Emma" Sam shouted, clearly agitated by the plan.  
He and Dean began to bicker and I used their preoccupation with each other to grab my rucksack and head into the bathroom to take a shower.  
I’d just met my very first demon, and not just any demon either, he was the freaking King of Hell! I tried to control my thoughts logically by listing what my next steps would be. The first and most obvious step was to get one of those anti-posession tattoos that the boys had. After that I was going to have to do a lot of reading on demon lore. I needed to know absolutely everything about them so I can protect myself if things got complicated. I’d need to know all of their powers so that they can’t take me by surprise, what would slow them down and what would kill them. Crowley certainly was a sharp dressed individual, I bet that demons were kind of self indulgent and give in to whatever their needs and desires were. I thought of Crowley giving in to lust and ravishing some poor woman as he satisfied his needs. The thought did not sicken me as I expected it should have, in fact it was kind of hot, well all except from the poor woman who was being ravished.  
I shook my head quickly and tried to snap out of it, took my clothes off and stepped into the shower. What the hell was wrong with me? Was I really just picturing a demon having sex and almost getting off on it? I guess I just couldn’t help myself, there was something about him, about Crowley. He was fascinating and exciting to me, I know he was one of the creatures of the night that hunters like me are supposed to kill, but he was a lot less monster-like than vampires or werewolves, and certainly more human than ghosts or ghouls.  
Under the running water I let myself think some more about Crowley, bringing an image to mind of him sitting in that chair, gazing at me across the room. I thought about the way he'd made me feel with that look of his, like I could not hide a single thought from him, like I was completely vulnerable and there was nothing I could do about it. Normally that should have made me really angry, I aways like to project this image of myself as a bad ass, strong woman who was not to be messed with. I should be completely in control of my own emotions and if anyone reads anything from me, it's because I allow them to. I've had a tough start to life and towards the present I've encountered and killed the things that go bump in the night, I'm definitely not some damsel in distress who goes all gooey eyed over handsome knights in shining armour. Well, Crowley definitely wasn't some knight in shining armour, he was the evil dragon that keeps princesses locked in towers. Oh but what a dragon he was...  
My body started responding to my thoughts and became very sensitised. My nipples had hardened and my skin tingled as I began to subconsciously stroke my hand slowly from my collar bone, down my chest and over my breast, down my stomach and down my thigh. I closed my eyes and put my head against the tiled wall as I ran my fingernails gently up my thigh, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake  
I parted my lips and my breathing quickened slightly as I slowly brought my hand up and let my fingers wander lightly in the pubic hair around my sex.  
Standing with my legs apart, I slowly caressed around my opening and then inserted my index finger, feeling electricity pulse within me. It was hot, wet and responsive to my touch.  
I brought my other hand into play and allowed to it to begin to caress around my clit, slowly and lightly at first, but as my need deepened I built up the pressure, rubbing the bud of nerves harder and quicker.  
I could feel everything inside me knotting towards my core, building up and threatening an explosive release.  
I slid another finger inside me and the two pushed back and forth as I stroked my clit with the fingers of my other hand.  
Moving faster and faster my legs began to stiffen, I shut my eyes tightly and I felt the knot snap. I slid to my knees as I felt wave after wave of electric energy radiating from my core and coursing throughout my body, my walls clenching on the two fingers inside.  
I slid my fingers out and stay on the floor of the tub for a few minutes while the throbbing faded and I could finally feel my legs again.  
I finally finished my shower, turned off the water and reached for a towel from the wall behind the tub and began to dry off. I could still feel a tingling across my cheeks as I pulled back the curtain to step out of the tub.  
I very nearly slipped over as I lifted my head and found myself staring Crowley right in the face.  
“Fuck….” I gasped and reached out for the towel rail for stability. “What the hell?”  
He was stood with his back to the door, shoulder resting against the wall. He looked incredibly smug.  
“That was quite the show, darling. Now I know what those looks over the breakfast table were about.” I was horrified, he can’t have seen what I was doing but he certainly would have heard it. I couldn’t let him get away with it.  
“You bastard!” I hissed and threw my fist right at his face. He stepped aside and my punch missed. He grabbed both of my arms tightly and I couldn’t move. It was too late though, I was furious and thrashing like a wild animal. “I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!” I hissed through my teeth and brought my left knee up and it hit him right in the crotch.  
“Aaaaargh!” he moaned, letting go of my arms and hunching over in pain. I turned to my backpack and fumbled for the gun I had in the inner pocket.  
The sound of gravelly laughter caught my attention and I whirled around, gun in hand, to see Crowley righting himself. “This has been fun, we should do it again, darling.” He blew a kiss at me and vanished.

______________________________________________________________________

Crowley was in his office again, this time bent over and clutching the side of his desk, there was an ache in his balls and a feeling that he might be sick. Regardless, He laughed to himself. That human, _Emma_ , was a feisty one, but still, he shouldn’t have let it happen. While talking to Dean, he couldn’t stop himself from looking at her sitting across the table from him. She was stunning with wild hair flowing about her shoulders and bright blue eyes. She was wearing the same t-shirt that she’d slept in and she’d pulled on some jeans but her feet were bare. He watched her as she sat in that chair with her chin up as if she was trying to let him know she wasn’t scared of him.  
After a while it was clear that she wasn’t listening to the conversation anymore and she had that look on her face as she watched him. Hell, reading people was part of his job, he could read body language as well as any written text and he was certain that she was displaying interest and very possibly arousal. What he would have given for the ability to read minds…  
There was no way he was going to be able to talk to her with the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in the room, so when she was the first one to head towards the bathroom, he took the opportunity and popped in for … well, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Talk? Tell her the attraction was mutual, then they'd hold hands and skip off into the sunset? He was still thinking about it when he appeared in the bathroom and she was already in the shower.  
This was fine, this could work out to his advantage. He’d just announce his presence, she’d be startled, curse his name, grab her towel and then they could talk. The fact that she would be underdressed meant that he had the upper hand in this situation. This was good. In the mere hours since he’d learned of her existence he was quickly unravelling, so he needed all the advantage he could take.  
Just as he opened his mouth he caught the sound of her rapid breathing hitching in the unmistakable sound of an orgasm. His mouth snapped shut and his eyes widened. He wasn’t a fool, he knew exactly what was happening behind that shower curtain. The way she’d looked at him earlier and now this, she was definitely enjoying the thought of him! He smiled and leaned his shoulder against the tiled wall, waiting for her to emerge.  
He had no idea what was going to happen next, but it certainly did not play out the way it does in those cheesey porn movies. “Hey sexy, want me to finish you off” the guy would say and then an hour of coital bliss would ensue. No, it didn’t go down like that at all. He certainly wasn’t expecting her to swing that left hook at him. He had seen the rage written across her face and he knew he should have left well enough alone, but some part of him couldn’t leave. He wanted to be there, he wanted to talk to her, hell he wasn’t even going to use what he’d just heard to his advantage. He just wanted her to calm down so that he could …. So that he could what? He didn’t have a clue what he wanted, and while he was stuck on that thought, she’d kneed him right in the groin.  
He shouldn’t have let this happen. He should have seen the signs that she was a fighter. The way she held her posture earlier suggested that she wasn’t just trying to look tough, and she’d been with the Winchesters for who knows how long and she was still alive. She was definitely the kind of girl who could take care of herself. He was an idiot for thinking that she wouldn’t have swung at him in the way she did.  
As his ache lessened, he gingerly sat down in his chair and worried that he’d completely messed it up. Would she tell the boys what had just happened? They’d certainly be the next ones to attempt to kill him today. This wasn’t good, but still he was the King of Hell and he didn’t run away from his problems. He decided he’d hold good on the earlier agreement and he’d meet with them to get the amulet, not knowing exactly what he was walking into was a less than ideal situation, but it needed to be done. 


	4. Kissing Demons

I was still absolutely fuming with rage when I left the bathroom, now fully dressed in a fresh t-shirt. I was drying off my hair with the towel and wondering how I was going to tell Dean and Sam what had just happened in the bathroom. Surely they would have heard me trying to kick a demon’s ass in the bathroom, these motel rooms may as well have been made of paper mache.  
Entering the main room, I realised why they hadn’t come knocking at the door at the first sound of a scuffle; they weren’t even here. I walked to the opposite side of the room and looked through the window. They were packing the car and discussing some finer details of today’s events. I was relieved that I didn’t have to tell them what had happened. I don’t know how I would have explained that Crowley had popped in to watch me take care of business in the shower. I wasn’t hurt, he hadn’t taken advantage of the situation in any way, I was just incredibly embarrassed. Angry of course, but embarrassed was definitely the main theme. By not telling the boys, I was just going to save myself more embarrassment.  
I opened the door to the parking lot outside and shouted to Dean. “Hey, shower’s free!”.  
I headed back into my room to grab my shoes and check that I hadn’t left anything behind. I heard the bathroom door close and the water run, Dean must in there now. I was pulling on my Chucks and still deep in thought when Sam came into the room and sat on the bed next to me.  
"Is everything ok, you were in there a long time"  
"Yeah fine. Is Dean in the shower now?" Sam nodded. "It's just.... Demons, Sam. I know you guys told me they existed, but now that I've actually seen one, it's just so real. If you'd have told me when we first met that one day in my future I'd be on first name terms with the King of Hell, I'd have thought you were completely nuts."  
Sam laughed while I continued. "And he's a smug bastard too. Crowley. King of freaking HELL...."  
"Yeah, don't let him get to you. He's got this way with words because that's what he does, he loves to get under your skin and use it against you. And definitely do not trust him, no matter what he says!" Sam offered.  
"Sam, you're going to have to tell me absolutely everything you know about demons. I want to know it all, strengths, weaknesses, what kills them. Everything."  
"C'mon ladies, time to carve us a witch, get your asses to the car!" Dean stuck his head through the door, freshly showered and fully dressed.  
"I'll tell you everything in the car" Sam grinned and carried my rucksack to the car.

As Dean drove his car, a black 1967 sport sedan 4-door hardtop Chevrolet Impala, to the location Crowley had given us, Sam sat in the front seat, twisted around so he could tell me all about demons. I was in the back seat, behind Dean, trying to take it all in. I learned all about Devil's traps, rock salt, the knife the boys had acquired from A demon named Ruby, exorcisms, the yellow eyed demon, and holy water amongst lots of other things. I was a little nervous about showing interest in him but I asked Sam to tell me more about Crowley specifically. I learned that as a human named Fergus McLeod, he sold his soul for a few inches below the belt, when he'd died he had become a crossroads demon. When Sam told me about how they'd trapped Lucifer in a cage and that's how Crowley had become King of Hell, I nearly choked on my own tongue.  
"You trapped Lucifer in a cage? The devil himself? " Sam and Dean simply laughed at me.  
"Hello boys, hello sweetheart. What's the joke?" I jumped in my seat as Crowley had suddenly appeared right next to me in the middle of the back seat.  
My heart began to race as I thought about our encounter in the bathroom, feeling a horrible concoction of anger and embarrassment burn within me. I didn't say anything, just glared at him trying to look as dangerous as I could.  
"We're nearly at the location now, I said we'd call when we got there" Dean said in a flat voice, looking at Crowley in his rear view mirror.  
"Well I can hardly trust you two numbskulls not get lost, now can i?"  
Dean shot him a fake smile and turned the stereo up a little to allow the sound of ZZ Top to drown Crowley out and Sam fell quiet turning his attention on the road ahead.  
He was so close to me now, his shoulder touching mine. I tried to calm myself down as I was still adamant that I didn't want Sam and Dean to know what had happened in the bathroom earlier, but there was something else bubbling away within me, something that seemed quite excited to be in such close proximity to Crowley.  
"So you haven't told them about earlier? Why ever not?" Crowley asked low enough that his voice wouldn't carry over the music.  
"It would have been an awkward thing to explain, besides, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." I said quietly as I feigned bravado and looked him right in the eyes.  
"That you are, dear, I'm still a bit sore where my bathing suit goes." I smiled at this. "But I am a gentleman and I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have been watching."  
I stared at him, one eyebrow raised and my mouth slightly open.  
“Hey, is he bothering you? We can switch seats.” Sam asked from the front, while Dean was looking at the two of us in the mirror.  
“No, it’s fine, he’s not bothering me.” I decided to ignore the situation in the car and stare out of the window for the rest of the journey. Crowley tried to make conversation with me again and he tried to get under Sam and Dean’s skin some more, but we soon arrived at our destination.  
We had to park just off the main road and take a short hike up an abandoned dirt track through the woods to a small cabin where the witch lived.  
The cabin itself wasn’t too rundown, it would probably be a great place to vacation if it was given a lick of paint and someone took care of the overgrown weeds. Dean dumped his duffle bag on the floor just before we exited the trees and started preparing for the fight ahead. Sam followed his lead.  
Just as I was about to check I had my own gun in place, Crowley grabbed my wrist.  
“Right girls, you two go in and kill the bitch, sorry, witch, grab my amulet and we’ll meet you back at the car.”  
“No way, she is not staying out here with you.” Dean snarled and Sam stepped towards us with concern in his eyes.  
“Leverage.” Crowley cocked his head. “To make sure I get my amulet.”  
“Nuh uh, I shook my head I’m on witch hunt duty, I’m not staying out here with..”  
“This is not up for discussion.” Interrupting me, Crowley clicked his fingers and I felt a sudden rush of vertigo hit as I realised I was now standing next to Dean’s Impala.  
I took a few breaths and put my hands on the car to try and shake the dizzy feeling. After a couple of seconds I felt that I was no longer going to fall down, I turned on Crowley.  
“What the hell! Why did you do that?” I was angry and shouting.  
“Like I said, leverage, and it doesn’t take three of you to kill one lousy witch. Now, shall we continue our earlier conversation?”  
“What conversation? Oh the part where you apologising to me for being a total pervert in the bathroom earlier. Yeah, sure, let’s continue that conversation.” I snapped sarcastically.  
“Like I said, I apologise. I simply wanted a conversation with you and I hadn’t banked on finding you in such a... vulnerable state.” He drew out the word vulnerable and looked me up and down quickly.  
“Yeah, well, what’s done is done. I, um, I guess I accept your apology.” His apology seemed genuine and I suddenly felt like I was acting like an ass. I was intrigued to found out what his interest in me was. “So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?” I lifted my head and looked at him. Deep down inside, a part of me was screaming at me for wanting to have a conversation with a demon, it was begging for me to just kill him and head back to the boys to make sure they’re ok with the witch. Subconsciously, I shushed the voice. My defences were still up but there was something about this demon that definitely captured my interests, after all, what woman doesn’t like a bad boy every now and again?  
“I came to find out what you are.” Crowley looked me up and down again, but this time very slowly. Instead of feeling naked under his gaze, this time I felt kinda good like I wanted him to look. I leaned against the hood of Deans car as I realised that I definitely had some kind of crush on Crowley. Shit.  
I tried to ignore my feelings and continue the conversation. “What do you mean, what I am? I’m just your standard old, American grade human being, just wandering around doing human things.”  
“There’s something about you, something more than _standard old, American grade human._ ” He was now standing just a foot away from me and was looking me right in the eye as he repeated my words.  
“Sorry sweetie,” I cocked my head to one side innocently. “I really don’t know what you mean I'm pretty sure I was born to normal human parents right here on terra firma, and I definitely don't have super powers.” I smiled at up at him as my words trailed off. Shit, did I just call him sweetie? Was I flirting with him? Ugh, get a grip!  
He didn’t say anything, he just continued to look at me as if he was trying to solve a puzzle.  
I broke eye contact and looked down to his mouth. He had that self-assured smirk on his face again, but I wondered what those lips would feel like against mine, whether that stubble would be rough against my skin.  
How long had it been since I’d last had anyone other than myself to satisfy my needs? There was that one blonde I’d met in the bar a few months ago. He was cute, tall and we had a great conversation. He was also sweet, but sometimes sweet just doesn’t cut it. We’d slept together in my motel room, he’d given me his number and I promised to text him mine when I got on the road. I never did.  
I wasn’t as disgusted with the thought of being involved with a demon as I thought I should be. I also knew that the hunter lifestyle wasn’t as straightforward as “if it ain’t human, kill it”. I didn’t have full details, but I knew that both Sam and Dean had had some kind of encounter with non-humans, there’d been a couple of times in past conversations where throats were suddenly cleared and subjects had been tactfully changed.  
“That look on your face right now, what is it?” Crowley broke my train of thought and stepped closer to me. I realised that I’d been silent for a little bit too long now.  
“Well, I….” I started before realising that my mind was completely blank. I didn't have any words to finish my sentence, so instead I stood up straight, reached my left hand around the back of Crowley’s neck and pulled him towards me.  
I tilted my chin upwards and looked up at his eyes for a second before closing the gap and softly kissing him. At first, he didn’t respond but just as I was beginning to worry that I’d made a mistake, I felt his hands on my hips as he pulled my body into an embrace and he began to kiss me back. I reached my right arm up around his shoulders, parted my lips and our tongues began a slow, intricate dance with each other.  
I don’t know how long we stayed like that, kissing each other, but I pulled away when I heard rustling in the trees and voices. Sam and Dean were on their way back so I let go of Crowley.  
“This stays between us, ok?” I said quietly but firmly as I walked a few steps towards the sound of voices.  
“As you wish.” Crowley said just as the boys came into view.  
“Hey, Emma, are you ok? He didn’t hurt you did he?” Dean said walking straight towards me.  
I laughed softly. “No, I’m fine. Bummed I missed out on the fun, but fine. Crowley was… civil.” As I mentioned his name I glanced back at him and he offered a small smile in our direction.  
“Now, my amulet boys.” Crowley said in a low voice.  
“Slight problem there, the witch didn’t have an amulet. She was holding onto this pretty hard though. Sam pulled a ring off his pinkie finger and held it up.  
“Morons! You can’t even take a bloody amulet from a bloody witch and instead you offer me this tacky costume jewellery?” Crowley raised his voice.  
I held my hand out towards Sam for the ring so I could take a closer look at it.  
“Hey, didn’t you hear him? The witch didn’t have an amulet!" Dean shouted back and stepped closer to Crowley.  
I looked closely at the ring. It was beautiful. It had a silver band with symbols engraved all around it, I didn’t recognise them. In the centre there was an oval amethyst about the size of my fingernail and there were two smaller black onyx stones set one on either side of the amethyst.  
It looked old. I slipped it on the middle finger of my right hand and held my hand up to admire it.  
I gasped as the ring began to heat up on my finger. Before I could remove the ring I felt the ground rushing up to meet me and my world went black.


	5. Two Days Too Long

Crowley stood in shock not knowing what to do. He'd been shouting at Sam and Dean for not getting the amulet when Emma suddenly dropped to the floor, unconscious.  
Sam almost immediately got to his knees and pulled her limp body towards him, he was calling her name and tapping her cheek to try to wake her up. Dean knelt on the ground next to them, looking shocked, stunned and scared.

"The ring" Crowley finally said loud enough to be heard over Sam. "Get the ring off her finger."  
Dean picked up Emma's right hand and tried to pull off the ring. "Son of a bitch, the damned thing won't come off!"  
"What do you mean it won't come off?" Crowley asked, agitated. He stepped forward and tried to take the ring off Emma. Dean was right, that ring was not moving. "Bollocks."  
"Dean, we'll have to take her back to the bunker, there's gotta be something in the Men of Letter's archives to identify what the ring is and how to remove it." Sam said, picking Emma up and carrying her to the car. Crowley watched Sam as he laid her down on the backseat with her head resting in his lap.  
Dean got into the driver's seat, slamming the door hard. Crowley went to the passenger side and opened the door.  
"What do you think you're doing?" Dean snapped.  
"I'm coming with, perhaps I can help, after all magic trinkets are a speciality of mine."  
Dean opened his mouth to protest but Sam quickly interrupted, "I'll take all the help we can get on this one. I just want her to wake up."

Crowley studied Sam's face in the rear view mirror. The only time he'd seen Sam this worried was one of the many times Dean was in danger. It was obvious he had some deep seated feelings for Emma. He turned his gaze out of the window as he remembered what happened before the boys came back with that ring.  
He was relieved to find that Emma hadn't told the boys about what happened in the bathroom but he felt like he needed to make it up to her. He had tried to apologise to her in the car but Dean had turned the music up and Sam had interrupted their quiet conversation. Once they’d gotten to the witch’s cabin, inspiration struck and he saw an opportunity to be alone with her; he held Emma back under the premise that she was leverage so that the boys would be sure to hand over the amulet. Of course, she'd been angry at him for this move, but when he had apologised she had calmed down and accepted.

When she wasn't shouting at him or trying to kill him, Emma actually had a pleasant manner, and she had even called him sweetie in a playful, almost flirty way. Nothing had prepared him for what had come next. She'd been looking at him the same way she was looking at him in the motel this morning, being in such close proximity to her he could now see that her pupils were dilated, her breath quickened as she parted her lips, which were looking decidedly plumper as it was clear that her body was displaying the symptoms of arousal.  
Then she was kissing him. Her kiss was warm and soft, and to begin with he was taken by surprise and not sure how to respond. It took him a fleeting moment to realise that he wanted this, so he gripped hold of her by her hips and returned the kiss. It was wonderful to feel her and to taste her and he didn't want it to end, but she had broken off the kiss just as he'd heard the Winchesters on their way back from. He'd imagine that this would be the part where she looked horrified at what she'd just done and demand it was a mistake and it should never have happened. Instead, despite looking a little flushed, she'd been calm and collected and told him to keep it between the two of them. She had instigated the kiss with no triggers from him. She had been the one to step forward and reach up to him. 

He couldn't help but feel completely out of his depth in this situation. Sure he'd had his needs and he'd managed to find a willing human in a bar or a demon who wasn't completely useless and he'd scratched that itch, but this was more than simply wanting sex, this was something much deeper.  
With a soft sigh he shook his head. There was no point dwelling on those thoughts right now, there were much more pressing matters at hand, like the ring that was stuck on Emma's finger and the fact that she was unconscious and completely unresponsive. 

__

Two days later…

They'd brought Emma back to the men of letters bunker and laid her down on a bed in one of the bedrooms, before turning to the vast collection of books in an attempt to discover what the ring was, why it wouldn't come off and what it had done to her.  
Crowley was glad the boys had allowed him to come along. Between the way he felt about Emma and the fact that she had kissed him, he considered himself to be deeply invested in this situation.

He had hired all of his demon servants to get involved in the case. He gave them a cellphone picture of the ring and it's inscriptions and they were told that they were to call him as soon as they knew anything about the ring or about anyone who might know.  
Sam and Dean had called Castiel on the case too. The angel had confirmed that he did not know what the ring was but that it "felt powerful". Cas wasn't on the best of terms with the majority of his angel brethren, however he had convinced a few to come on side and help him find out what the ring was. The rest of the time he had stayed in the bunker to help going through the vast collection of books and notes. 

The mood in the bunker soured more and more as they couldn't wake Emma and as the hours of the second day passed and they were starting to worry how they were going to feed her.  
"There's a chapter here about magical amulets." Sam sat up in his chair and continued reading. "But it's just about safe keeping of ones that aren't already attached to someone...." He sighed and slumped in his chair. “You know, I just don’t get it. I had that ring on my finger first, why didn’t it do anything to me?” He sounded exasperated.  
“Have you boys ever considered that there’s something special about Emma, that she’s something more than a banal hunter? You’ve not felt it, wings?” Crowley directed the latter question to Castiel.  
“She has not displayed any powers and she does not display the characteristics of any being of which I know.” Crowley rolled his eyes at Castiel’s uncommitted response.  
“Emma’s special? So, what? You’ve got a crush on her?” Dean asked.  
“Cute.” Crowley’s word was oozing with sarcasm as he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at Dean.  
It was Castiel who steered the conversation away from Crowley’s feelings for Emma by announcing her name suddenly. He was looking toward the doorway that led to the bedrooms, following his gaze, Crowley saw her standing there, leaning on the doorframe. She looked a little pale and seemed a little weak, but that was to be expected for someone who hadn’t eaten in two days. 

"Hey boys, am I missing the party?" She said in a hoarse voice.


	6. The Elephant in the Room

I awoke laying on a bed in a small room not knowing where I was and feeling weak and a little dizzy.  
I sat up slowly and took in my surroundings. The wall behind the bed was plain concrete and the other three were bare brick. There was a nightstand next to the bed with a small lamp and an old dial-up telephone. Around the room there was a chest of drawers, wardrobe, a desk and chair and a small two seater sofa all made of the same walnut wood, the sofa having the addition of green leather. The walls were mostly bare except from a painting on one wall, a scene depicting a group of people sitting by a river with boats nearby, and a notice board above the desk which was empty. The whole room looked quite retro, almost like something out of the 1950’s with a hint of student dormitory, it wasn’t like any motel room I’d ever stayed in, it was far too clean and quiet.

Looking down at myself I found that somebody had changed my clothing, I was now wearing my comfortable jogging bottoms rather than my jeans. I still had the same t-shirt on, but no bra. I put my hands on my knees, leaning forward and caught sight of the ring on the Middle finger of my right hand.  
The last thing I remembered was putting that ring on. I suddenly felt apprehensive about the piece of jewellery, I tried to take it off but it wouldn't budge.  
Great. That's just bloody typical, that is. It's just my luck to get some mysterious magic ring stuck to me. Feeling a little panicked and a lot scared, I decided to turn my attention to trying to find out where I was.  
I got up and allowed myself a few moments to gain my balance. I was pleased to find my rucksack sitting on the chair by the desk. In lieu of a good shower, I pulled out a clean t-shirt and combed my hair.

I went to the door and found it wasn’t locked so I exited the room and turned left into a corridor with walls decorated two thirds of the way up with tiling in various shades of grey and bordered in black. The rest of the wall was painted cream. There were other doors here, so I opened the first one and peeked in, it was another dorm room exactly the same as mine. Now I was really wondering what kind of place this was. I returned to the corridor and closed the door behind me. The sound of voices caught my attention so I followed the sound to the other end of the corridor. I came out into a large room that looked like a small library. There were full bookcases against every wall and a two tables in the centre with chairs around them. At these tables, hunched over various books were Sam, Dean and Crowley. Castiel was standing by one of the bookshelves. As I entered the room, Cas looked up at me and said my name, alerting the others to my presence. 

Dean and Sam got up from their chairs immediately, but it was Crowley who got to me first, he did his magic teleporting thing and appeared right next to me. Taking my arm, he led me to the nearest chair at the table, earning a curious glare from Dean and a seriously filthy look from Sam.  
I was immediately pounded with questions from the brothers. Was I ok? Was I hurt? How was I feeling? Why was I out of bed? Castiel stood next to me and stared at me in that strange way of his and Crowley sat next to me and offered me a smile. I smiled back and found my strength to answer the plethora of questions.  
“Boys, calm down! I think I’m ok, I feel fine, hungry, but fine. I’m a little stiff but nothing hurts and I don’t feel sick or anything. What happened? How long was I out? And what the hell is this place?” I returned their barrage of questions with my own.  
“I’m not surprised you’re hungry, you were unconscious for two days. We were really worried. We don’t know what happened, you put on that ring and you just passed out.” Sam explained.  
Before I could ask anymore questions, Crowley reached out and took my chin in his hand, simultaneously turning my face towards him and pulling me closer. I looked right into his eyes in shock, I remembered that I kissed him before the incident with the ring, I had told him to keep that between the two of us. I heard Dean say Crowley’s name in a questioning and almost warning voice and my heart began to beat a little faster. Our faces were just inches apart and I thought he was going to kiss me but instead he held my gaze for a few moments before finally breaking the silence.  
“Your eyes. They’ve changed colour.” He said in that low, gravelly voice that went straight to my soul. I pulled back from him, wondering what he was talking about. He snapped his fingers and a small mirror appeared in his hand. He offered it to me and I took it and looked at my eyes.  
He was right. Instead of my usual blue, the irises of my eyes were now an unnatural light purple colour, in fact, they were the same colour as the central stone on the ring that won’t come off.  
I floundered. “What? I don’t… I mean… How? Is it because of the ring? What is it?” The questions rolled off my lips and I couldn’t help sounding urgent and slightly scared.

“We don’t know what it is, pet, but don’t worry, you’re fine.” Crowley put his hand on my arm.  
“Ok, dude, you’re being weird.” Dean gestured to Crowley. “Emma, we’ve been researching since we got back here and so far we’ve got bupkis, but he’s right, you’re going to be ok, we wont let anything happen to you.”  
I let out a long sigh and tried to take stock of myself. I really did feel fine, no aches, no pains, no bizarre feelings that I couldn’t explain. I felt completely normal. I had to get control of my emotions though, I was feeling incredibly scared of this thing on my finger, but I didn’t want to break down, not here, not in front of everyone. Time to change the subject.  
“So where are we exactly?” I referenced the one question that hadn’t yet been answered.  
Sam smiled at me, looking quite proud, I guessed that my attempt to seem calm and collected was working. “We’re in the Men of Letter’s bunker.” He answered. I remembered Sam telling me all about this place in a diner in Michigan when we were hunting a vampire nest a few months ago. Sam and Dean were legacies. Their father was supposed to have been trained in all kinds of magic and spells and in turn he would have trained the two of them. This bunker was hidden somewhere in Kansas and was filled with all kinds of books, archives, magical ingredients and wierd trinkets that a secret society known as the Men of Letters were keeping safe from the forces of evil.  
“Wow, so I finally get to see the infamous bunker, huh?” I said with a smile. “Look, boys, I apparently just woke up from an epic two day nap and I am starving, please tell me that this bunker comes armed with copiously large amounts of nourishment?”  
“We’re on it!” Sam laughed at me and got to his feet, before he left the room he turned to his brother. “Dean, would you mind picking up some supplies from the store? We don’t have much right now.”  
“Sure.” Dean got up and grabbed his keys from the table. “Cas, watch Crowley, he’s being weird.”  
“Castiel, you might as well sit down, you don’t literally have to stand watch over us.” I smiled up at him while sweeping a wide gesture to the many seats around us. He finally chose one at the far end of the other table. He picked up one of the books and began flipping through the pages. I was glad he didn’t take Dean’s order literally.  
“How are you, really?” Crowley asked me, completely ignoring Castiel’s presence.  
“Crowley, I said I’m fine. I really don’t feel any different at all. I guess… Well, I guess I feel a little anxious about this thing on my finger and my new eye colour. Being part of this supernatural world, I know it’s not going to be all sunshine and rainbows and puppy dogs. It’s not going to stop here, it’s got to mean something, it’s gotta be part of something bigger.”  
“That’s incredibly honest of you.” Crowley leaned back in his chair with that look on his face, the one that felt like he was tearing open my soul like opening a book and reading the words within.  
I mirrored his body language, leaning back in my own chair and studying his face.  
He was right, that was very honest of me. Logically, this was incredibly wrong. The facts are that Crowley is a demon, he is the king of hell and even if that was completely ok, I’d known him for just a few hours. But somewhere in that weird, irrational part of my brain I felt completely comfortable sitting next to him, talking to him, opening up to him. Sure, he was dangerous, I knew that he could and would kill me if it was of an advantage to him, or at the very least he’d attempt to make a bargain for my soul. Despite this, I had this feeling that I was safe around him. I wasn’t some naive little girl, he had had his opportunities when I was in the shower and when he had held me as leverage while the boys dealt with the witch, and of course, he had kissed me back when I kissed him.  
I had no idea what any of this meant. I found Crowley to be fascinating and captivating and handsome and incredibly sexy. Did that mean I wanted to pursue a relationship with him? I had no idea. He was certainly interested in me, he was still here after all.  
“Penny for your thoughts?” He asked me.  
“Why are you here, Crowley? What’s your interest in all of this?”  
“You are, pet.” My heart skipped a beat. I glanced over to Castiel to see if he was listening. He was reading one of the books, but I wasn’t entirely convinced that he couldn’t hear us.  
“What about you, pet, why are you here?” Crowley brought my attention back to him.  
“Well, you see, there’s this ring attached to my finger and it’s turned my eyes purple, so that’s why I’m here.” My tone dripped with sarcasm and I got a little thrill from teasing Crowley. He narrowed his eyes at me.  
“With the Winchesters, pet, why are you with the Winchesters? What made you a hunter? Let me guess, some creature killed your parents and Bill and Ben there saved you?”  
“Nope, totally wrong.” I mocked him by narrowing my eyes at him just as he had done to me. “I met them while I was killing a vampire. It turned out I was in over my head a bit as it wasn’t just one, there was a whole nest of them. Sam and Dean cruised into town and showed up right outside the barn I was about to burst into. We sorta mutually helped each other out. We exchanged phone numbers and they told me to call if there was ever any trouble. I called them up a few weeks later and told them I wanted in on the bigger picture.”  
“What, and they went for it?” Crowley laughed.  
“No, not at first. It took a while of me hounding them, but they eventually let me work a couple of cases with them. Little things at first, like ghosts and stuff. I guess I proved my worth to them.” I continued.  
“So there’s no family to miss you? No boyfriend?”  
I leaned close to Crowley and lowered my voice to hide what I was saying from Castiel. “Honey, if I had a boyfriend I wouldn’t have kissed you.” I sat back in my chair and spoke normally. “No, no family, it’s just me.”  
A huge grin crept onto Crowley’s face. “So, we’re talking about that are we?”  
“Talking about what?” Sam appeared with a tray of sandwiches in his hand and placed them on the table in front of me. I was absolutely famished, so I grabbed the closest one to me and started eating.  
“Moose, your timing is impeccable.” Crowley scowled up at Sam. Placing a hand on my shoulder, Sam looked down at me and asked if I was ok. He was clearly concerned about me being left with Crowley.  
“Sam. I’m fine. No talk. Food.” I shushed him between mouthfuls of food.


	7. Too Many Kisses

Once I’d had my fill of the food I sat back and allowed Sam to tell me what they’d done so far in order to find out what the ring was and what it had done or was doing to me. Dean had come back with more food than I had ever seen in my life. Castiel kept on studying me with that intense gaze of his, but finally decided he needed to leave to check in with some other angels who were trying to find out what the ring was.

We Were at a loss for what to do next, it was just a case of reading and reading and reading. As the hours passed, I felt the air stagnating around me and I began to get short tempered under the constant coddling of the Winchesters. Even Crowley’s stare made me feel trapped like an animal in a cage.  
I needed to get out, I needed air. I began my life as a loner, I began hunting as a loner and it was how I coped with things best. I needed space to allow myself to think and feel and to gather my thoughts on the predicament I’d found myself in.  
I sighed and stood up from the table. 

“Look, guys, I'm stagnating here. I need air. My apartment is a couple of hours away so I wanna go for a drive, pick up some new clothes and clear my head." I stood up and swept a hand through my hair. I'm not claustrophobic in the slightest but at that moment I was pretty sure I knew what it felt like.  
"No way. I'm not letting you out of my sight!” Dean protested loudly. “We don’t know what that ring has done to you.”  
“Dean, look, I’m fine right now.” I started. “I can’t feel anything unusual going on, but I do understand the concern. The not knowing is eating away at me too. I need to get some head space, I need some alone time to clear my thoughts and get some air. I will be fine. I haven’t been home in a few weeks now and I at least need to check on my place. I promise I will call you at the first sign of trouble.”  
“Emma, can I at least come with you?” Sam put his hand on my arm and gazed into my eyes and I could see the concern etched on his face as he took in their colour. “Your car is back at the motel and you’ll need some way of getting there.”  
I lowered my gaze from Sam and looked away. “Crowley can take me.”  
“What?” Dean and Sam snapped in unison.  
“What am I, a chauffeur service?” Crowley quipped from his chair.  
“Oh you know you’ll do it for little old me.” I winked at Crowley. I was shocked at my sudden ability to openly flirt with him, and I caught myself wondering if the ring had something to do with that. Shaking my head, I looked back to Sam. “Besides, it’s the obvious choice. He can just magic me there and it will take a couple of hours off the journey. It’s fine, I can handle myself!”  
“Ok.” Sam finally gave in. “But promise me you’ll call if anything happens at all. We can be right there. You can pray to Cas too, he’s got your back.”  
I gently squeezed Sam’s shoulder and walked back to the room I had woken up in earlier.

I changed into my jeans, tied back my hair and I was just packing up my rucksack when I heard a knock at the door.  
“Hey, what’s going on with you and Crowley?” Sam asked as he entered the room. “He’s acting weird around you and you’re being very friendly towards him. You’ve gotta be careful, he’s a demon and you cannot trust him. He’s double crossed us so many times in the past, tried to kill us, set us up. The only side he’s on is his own.”  
“I know, Sam! Honestly I would be disappointed if the first demon I’ve ever met did not live up to his reputation, but he’s been civil and somewhat helpful so far, so I’m just making things a bit easier by being civil in return. That does not mean I won’t carve him into pieces if I need to. Besides, you’re not exactly entirely innocent. I seem to remember you telling me about your attempt to cure him? I don’t think any demon would be particularly happy about having his humanity restored, I can’t imagine it’s at all like Angel or Spike getting their souls back.”  
Sam laughed at my Buffy analogy and shrugged. I had finished packing my stuff so I looked back up to Sam, I tapped his nose lightly with my finger. “I can take care of myself. I wouldn’t be here with you and Dean if I couldn’t.”  
Sam didn’t say anything. He just gazed down at me with those big brown puppy dog eyes of his.  
“Sam, why are you looking at me like that?” I couldn’t break his intense gaze. Next thing I knew, he leaned in and planted his lips on mine in a soft kiss, bringing his hand up behind my head. He was incredibly gentle, he didn’t hold my head in place, he just left his hand there, waiting for me to respond. I was shocked at his bold move and my mind went blank, I didn’t know what to do. I felt his tongue try to part my lips in attempt to deepen the kiss and that snapped me back into the present. I reached up and gently pulled his arm down, breaking off the kiss.  
“Sam, I can’t…. This isn’t….” I said, looking up at him apologetically.  
“So, are you ready to go?” Crowley interrupted, entering the room behind Sam, who was looking at me. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Sam, I didn’t want to see the look on his face.  
“Yes, I’m packed, let’s go.” I stepped around Sam, picked up my rucksack and stood next to Crowley. Not wanting to look at Sam or think about what had just happened, I looked up at Crowley to find an incredibly dark expression on his face. Shit, he’d seen what Sam had just done.  
Stepping much closer to me than was needed, Crowley put his arm around me and rested his hand on the small of my back.  
“Moose.” He nodded at Sam and the small room disappeared and I was now standing in the motel parking lot with Crowley, his arm still around me.  
“Ok, you can let go now.” I said in a flat tone.  
“That’s all I get for being your bloody chauffeur?” I don’t know if he was just really good at playing at being hurt or if he was genuinely upset with me. There was a flicker of something in his eyes that scared me a little bit.  
“I’m sorry, Crowley.” I said, purposefully being over polite. “Thank you for the ride, but I’d really appreciate some alone time right now.”  
“Give me your phone.” He asked, no, he commanded me. The darkness was still there in his eyes.  
“What?” I asked.  
“Phone.”  
“Okay….” I pulled out my phone and he grabbed it from my hand. I watched as he put in a number and added his name. Next he pressed the call button and hung up after his own phone started to ring. He now had my number.  
“In case you need me.” He gripped my chin firmly in his hand and tilted my face up to his. “The eyes suit you, pet.” He planted a rough kiss on my lips, let go of my face, and vanished.


	8. Blood and Sex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Caution: smut ;)_

It was an hour’s drive to my apartment and while I was behind the wheel of my car, finally alone at last, my thoughts began to race. Things were so different from the last time I’d driven my green 2002 4-door Honda Civic. To begin with, I had expected a simple witch hunt with the Winchester brothers, a simple in and out job in order to retrieve an amulet.  
Now that I was finally returning to the under sized, over priced shoe box that I’d called home for the past 2 years, I couldn’t help but take into account all that had changed. I’d met a demon. I’d kissed and been kissed by a demon. I had this ring stuck on my finger and weird looking eyes. Sam had kissed me.  
I think I was still in a mild state of shock over the events of the past few days when I finally parked up at my building. I went inside and grabbed the handful of mail waiting for me in my box and headed up the familiar three flights of stairs.  
Unlocking my door I found another envelope had been shoved underneath, so I stooped to retrieve it without reading it, added it to my pile and threw the whole pile on my small kitchen counter. I needed a contingency plan. I needed to keep my brain working so that I didn’t go crazy.

First, I decided I wanted a shower so I dropped my bag and headed into the bathroom. There was no window in there, so I reached out to flip on the lights and …. nothing. I flipped the switch off and on again a few more times. Still nothing.  
“Shit…” I muttered out loud. Heading into the only other room to my studio apartment, I tried the light switch there too. Nothing.  
“Fuck!” I shouted a bit more aggressively. It seemed that my electricity had been turned off. Rummaging around in a box from under my bed, I found some candles and a lighter, lit them and took them into the bathroom. The bathroom was small enough that there was adequate light from the candles to see the shape of the things I needed, so I leaned over to the dial for the shower and turned it on.  
“Shit!” I yelled as I found that there was no water.  
My shoulders slumped and I went back into the other room. I stomped over to my pile of mail looking for a letter to tell me why my utilities had been shut off. My eyes fell on the one that had been slid under my door, in big red letters at the top of the envelope it read EVICTION NOTICE.  
“Fuck! Shit! Fuck!” I practically screamed while kicking the kitchen counter, earning me a loud thumping on the wall as my neighbour shouted at me to keep the noise down.  
This was all I needed. I guessed that I’d finally run out of savings and I couldn’t afford to pay anything. It was inevitable that it was going to happen, being a hunter wasn’t exactly a top paying job, but I was just so frustrated that it was all happening at once. 

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through my contacts. I stopped at Crowley’s name and absentmindedly pressed the call button. I heard the tone at the other end ring once and it seemed to snap me back to reality. Why was I calling Crowley? He wasn’t going to be able to help me. I hung up just as I heard the ringing stop and the distinct sound of a connection.  
I put my phone down on the counter and held my head in my hands just as I heard a voice coming from behind me.  
“It’s rude to hang up on someone.” Crowley. Great. This is just the cherry on my fucking cake right now. I didn’t turn to face him, I could feel anger bubbling away within my stomach due to the predicament I now found myself in.  
“It was a mistake. I didn’t mean to.” I said, loudly and flatly.  
“Oh, and there’s me thinking you wanted to pick up where we left off before you put that ring on. I don’t come running at just anyone’s beck and call, you know.” I don’t know how he did it, but he managed to sound angry and flirtatious at the same time. It was exactly the perfect combination to tip me over the edge.  
“Whatever, Crowley, I’m not in the mood for this little tête-à-tête with you right now.”  
I stormed into my bathroom and slammed the door.

Damn. Damn, damn and double damn. I was freaking screwed and on the verge of losing my cool here. I was being kicked out of my apartment and now had nowhere to live, I had no family or friends to turn to because the only people I was close to was Sam and Dean, and now that Sam had kissed me and I’d run out on him I wasn’t so sure I had that anymore. Oh, and don’t forget the very confusing demon who was now left to his own devices in my apartment.  
I gripped my sink with both hands and took some deep breaths, I tried to calm down but when I glanced up at the mirrored doors of the medicine cabinet I caught sight of those purple eyes and I lost it.  
I grit my jaw and punched the first mirror, shattering it instantly. If there was pain, it didn’t register, I just pulled my fist back, shouted and punched the second one out. I lashed out and swept my bottles of shampoo and shower gel off the shelf under the shower, shouting out in rage as hot tears stung my face.  
The door flew open and before I could trash anything else, I felt hands on my shoulders trying to hold me down. Screaming in pure fury, I tried to wrestle my way out of Crowley's grasp, but he was much stronger than me.

“Emma!” He shouted at me. “Calm the bloody hell down, woman!” He turned me to face him and I saw that his eyes were red and smoking, the sight shocked me enough into stopping my violent thrashing. As I stopped, his eyes flickered back to the normal hazel and I let out a sob. I collapsed to my knees and Crowley knelt down beside me, still gripping my shoulders. I allowed my head to drop to the side and fall into the crook of his elbow, my hands rested on the lapels of his jacket as I sobbed hysterically.  
“Come on, love, come into the light and let me see if you’ve hurt yourself.” His tone was much gentler now as he picked me up and carried me to my bed. Setting my down on the edge, he pulled my hand into his and saw that my fist was cut and bleeding.  
“Bloody hell, what’s gotten into you?” I looked at the blood running down my hand and I could see that there was a small piece of the mirror embedded in the knuckle.  
Crowley let me go for a moment while he retrieved a towel from the bathroom.  
“This is going to hurt, love.” He said as he pulled my hand towards him and gripped the piece of shattered mirror. “On three. One…” I screamed out in pain as he pulled out the mirror before he even got to two. “I lied. Demon.” he crooned as an excuse. “Now, let’s try to stop the bleeding.” He picked the towel up and pressed it to my hand, telling me to keep it there.  
“Do you want to tell me what all this is about?” He sat down next to me on the bed. He was close enough that his shoulder touched mine and I felt a strange sort of comfort from the contact.  
“Ugh…” I moaned, wiping my face with my good hand. The tears had dried and left the skin a little tight. “Just… Everything. The ring. You. Sam. Now I’m losing my apartment.”  
“Me?”  
“Yeah, you. You’re a freaking demon, I should rely on you to be evil and try to kill me or something, but you’re just confusing the hell out of me. You apologised to me for the whole shower thing, I kissed you, you kissed me, and now you’re helping me and being nice. Why?”  
He took a while before he answered me, looking at me like he was deeply considering my questions.  
“The world is a complicated place, love. What can I say, you’ve had a strange effect on me.” He reached out to brush my face and I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch. “Don’t add me to your list of problems, just run with it. You might even like it.” His lips were a couple of inches from mine and I thought he was going to kiss me, but he stopped and looked into my eyes.  
“You are absolutely stunning.” He said in a low voice and I couldn’t help myself anymore, I closed the gap and I kissed him.

The kiss was slow but firm at first. His tongue licked my lower lip seeking entry and I yielded, opening my mouth, drawing out my own tongue to greet his. He felt and tasted amazing, he was hot and his kiss was passionate, he tasted like scotch whiskey and vanilla. His fists bunched in my hair and I reciprocated by pulling him closer to me as we deepened the kiss.  
Eventually, I broke off the kiss and looked down at the floor, trying to steady my heart rate and decide where this was going.  
“Bloody tease.” He growled at me. Suddenly my head was clear for the first time today, I knew what I wanted and I was going for it, so I got up from the bed and stood in front of him, looking down at him and into his eyes. I put my hands on my t-shirt and played with the hem at the bottom for a couple of seconds. As Crowley looked to my hands clearly wondering what I was up to, I dragged the hem up lifting my t-shirt up and over my head.  
"Well well." Crowley said with his signature smirk etched onto his face. He stood up in front of me and placed both of his hands on either side of my face and kissed me briefly, before stepping back to take off his overcoat followed by his suit jacket.  
I began to take off his tie, maintaining eye contact. My heart was hammering in my chest with anticipation of what was going to happen. My lips parted and I licked my bottom lip as I got the tie off and began undoing the buttons of his shirt. As I reached the bottom I tugged the shirt out of his pants and slid it down his shoulders, dropping it to the floor.  
Stopping for a moment, I took in the sight of his bare chest, peppered with dark hair. He had broad shoulders with tattoos at the tops of his arms and what the magazines had started to affectionately refer to as the “dad bod”. That suits me perfectly, I mean who wants a man that would put more attention into himself than me? I prefer them hot and sweaty in my bed, not the gym.  
I ran my nails up his arms, across his shoulders and down the front of his chest, slowly making my way towards my goal, my prize; the king of hell’s crown jewels. I undid his belt and slipped it forcefully out of the belt loops and threw it on the floor. It landed with a thud and I looked up into Crowley’s eyes, trying my best to look sultry and in control. It seemed to work, he was thoroughly enjoying what he was seeing; the pupils of his eyes were dilated so much I could barely see the colour of his irises anymore, his lips were parted and he was breathing heavily.  
As I reached forward to unbutton his trousers, he caught my wrist and spun me around so I was facing away from him. I could feel his breath on my neck as he ran his hands from my ass up my back to my bra. He planted kisses in that sweet spot where my neck meets my shoulder, nipping softly, as he undid my bra. He brought his hands up and pushed my bra straps off my shoulders, then he slid his hands down my front, making my bra drop to the floor. I kicked it out of the way as he began palming and groping my breasts, which earned him a small whimper from me.  
Reaching my arm up, I pulled his head forward slightly and turned my face up to his, kissing him passionately as he fondled and palmed my breasts and squeezed my nipples until they were hard.  
He slid his hands down my stomach and to the buttons on my jeans. He kissed along the side of my jaw and down my neck again while he undid the three buttons and pushed his hands into the waistband. He stopped kissing and took half a step backwards as he knelt down, pushing my jeans all the way to the floor and helping me step out of them. He gripped my hip with one hand and the other he slid up to the small of my back, gently pushing until I was bent over with my ass sticking out.  
He began kissing up my left leg, starting at the calf. I wiggled as he caught that ticklish spot behind my knee and I heard him laugh softly. He kissed tantalisingly slowly up the back of my thigh and across my ass. He brought his hands up both of my legs and held me as I felt his breath through the cotton of my pants. Gripping me tightly, he simultaneously pulled me back and put his mouth over my entire sex, kissing hard and rough enough to make me moan loudly. The heat inside me was rising quickly, a knot forming in my stomach but before I was well and truly on the path to release, Crowley stopped kissing and stood up, turned me around and pushed me down onto the bed.

He stood at the foot of the bed looking down at me as he undid his trousers and let them drop to the floor. I raised an eyebrow and smiled as I finally found out what kind of underwear he wore underneath his smart suit; black silk boxers. Of course, would it have been anything else?  
I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth and bit down as I allowed myself a good look at the bulge in his boxers. If he’d sold his soul for an extra few inches as a human it only stood to reason that he had chosen a well-endowed host for his demonic form, it looked impressive through his underwear and I was hungry for it.  
I planted my feet on the bed and lifted my hips, not breaking eye contact, I slid my pants down my legs and threw them playfully at Crowley. He caught them and with the flick of an eyebrow, he stooped down taking of his own boxer shorts, dropping both our garments to the floor. He knelt on the bed in front of me, grabbed my knees and forced them apart while bringing himself down on top of me. He kissed hard across my chest and up the side of my neck, along my jaw and on my mouth. I let myself revel in the warmth and weight of him on top of me, bringing my hands up his back and to his shoulders holding him against me. Our kiss was deep, passionate and desperate, our tongues writhing, tasting and exploring one another.  
Arousal was burning through me, it felt like my entire sex was on fire and I needed Crowley to put it out. Bringing my hips up, I bucked against his dick making him growl down into my mouth and break off the kiss.  
He slid his hand down between our bodies, took hold of himself and rubbed the head of his dick in a circle around my clit, once, twice, three times. I moaned and rolled my hips towards him trying to find him, trying to guide him inside.  
“Patience…” He grunted in my ear and nipped hard at my neck.  
He slid the head of his hard cock down my folds and to my entrance, teasing me as he held it there for a moment and then slowly dipped into me. I felt the tip force its way in, stretching me open… and then he stopped and just as slowly, pulled back out.  
“Fuck!” I moaned, very quickly losing any remaining cool I may have had. I was met with a low chuckle in my ear as I felt him slowly bring his cock back up my folds and around my clit again. I counted his circling, three times again, and he slid back down and dipped into me, again with just the tip. Pulling the tip out again, I thought I’d figured out his game and I was prepared for him to come back up and rub his dick around my clit again, but he surprised me by thrusting his entire length right into me, making me gasp. He felt wonderful. He filled me up completely and I was in absolute bliss. I rolled my hips to allow him to make his move, but instead he held my hips down with one hand and withdrew his cock agonisingly slowly until it was just his tip left inside me. He pulled out a little more and just before I felt him withdraw from me completely, he pushed his tip into me again and stopped.  
“Now who’s the fucking tease?” I moaned, my voice having lowered an octave or two in arousal.  
He withdrew from me completely, grabbed hold of himself and rubbed up and down between my folds again. Every time he hit my clit I could feel the pressure building, the knot tightening. If he kept this up I was going to come hard. My breath quickened and he slipped down to my entrance again, slowly pushing his tip into me once more. With a quick buck of his hips, he slammed the full length into me and held still. After a torturous couple of seconds, he pulled back slowly and thrust hard making our flesh slap together. He pulled back again and thrust hard again and again and again, finding a rhythm and with every thrust I could feel the knot inside of tightening and twisting and burning.  
I desperately grabbed at the tops of his arms and shoulders, digging my nails in as I kissed and sucked and nipped at his neck. My breathing quickened and I stiffened my legs slightly as I felt my release coming. Crowley felt it too, he leaned up on one elbow, holding my face with his other hand, he looked right into my eyes and growled down at me; “Come!”.  
I slipped my hand down between us and let my fingers circle my clit, applying pressure. It only took a couple of strokes and I felt the knot snap and wave after wave of pure pleasure took over my body.  
“Crowley!” I moaned out loudly as I climaxed hard at his command. I felt his thrusting falter as I moaned his name a second time and he pushed all the way into me and groaned through his own release.  
After a short while of pure, rippling pleasure, he pulled out of me and kissed me passionately before rolling over onto his back and pulling me close. I laid my head on his shoulder, basking in his afterglow.


	9. Solving Human Problems in a Human Way

With a sigh, I pulled myself up from the bed and retrieved my underwear from where they had been dropped on the floor.  
“Is it over so soon, love?” The man, no, the _demon_ in my bed called over to me, his British accent was deep, gravelly and laced with seduction and self-pride.  
After pulling on my bra and pants, I grabbed my jeans and stepped into them.  
“Crowley, as much as I would love to stay and torture myself by trying to figure out what this is between us, you may have noticed that I have no electricity, no water and very soon, no apartment.” I heard him snap his fingers and when I turned to look at him in my bed, he wasn’t there.  
“I can help with that.” I jumped a little as his voice came from behind me. Turning to face him, I found him standing in the middle of the room fully dressed in his black suit. I really had to admire his dress sense, he looked incredibly handsome dressed head to toe in a perfectly tailored suit with perfect creases running up the centre of his trousers, perfectly pressed shirt under his perfectly sewn jacket and a dark grey tie with a perfect windsor knot.  
“Work for me, love, and you’ll want for nothing.” I laughed.  
“Work for you? The King of Hell? What would position would I take, a cross roads human? I’m afraid that isn’t going to work. Besides, my morality would get in the way of your soul collecting business.” I pulled on my t-shirt.  
“Oh there are a few positions I’d love for you to take, darling.” He growled softly into my ear as he ran his hands softly up my arms and rested them on my shoulders. My knees went weak and I could feel a fluttering in my stomach as I pressed my hand to his chest to steady myself.  
“I need to solve my human problems in a human way, Crowley.” I ignored his sexual euphemisms, I was impressed at my own ability to control what was happening to me.  
“I do love the sound of my name on your lips, love.” He turned away from me and spoke in a louder tone. “I’ll let you think on my offer, but allow me to leave you with a small gift for our incredible time together. Until next time, love.” He gazed into my eyes with a look that very nearly made my legs buckle from underneath me, clicked his fingers and vanished instantly.  
With his departure the lights to in my apartment suddenly came on and I heard water running from my shower in the bathroom. I laughed, feeling elated at the prospect of finally being able to get a hot shower in my own apartment. 

I was still smiling as I stepped through the door to my bathroom but my smile faltered as I saw the mess I’d made earlier, the broken glass in the sink, the scattered bottles across the floor. Absentmindedly, I rubbed my hand where I had punched out the mirrors only to find no pain. Surprised, I brought my hand up to look at it and despite the smeared blood across my knuckles and fingers, there were no cuts, my hand was completely healed. I knew enough about demons to know that this wasn’t Crowley’s doing, King or not he just didn’t have the power to heal humans, so that left just one alternative; the ring.

I looked at the ring on the middle finger of my right hand. It was silver with bizarre symbols etched around the band, a fingernail sized amethyst in the centre flanked by two smaller onyx stones. Dean and Sam Winchester had taken it from a witch they had killed a few days ago. They were sent to find an amulet by none other than Crowley. They couldn’t find an amulet but they had found this ring, which I, foolishly, slipped onto my finger and then poof! It was lights out for me. I awoke a couple of days later to find that the ring had made my hand it’s new home and wouldn’t take my eviction notice. I also had a brand new eye colour; purple to match the amethyst on the ring. Dean and Sam were turning over the Men of Letters archives, Castiel was enlisting the last few angels who would help him to turn over heaven and Crowley was turning over hell to figure out what this thing was. So far, we’d come up with, as Dean would put it, bupkiss. 

I was certain that the ring had something to do with my new Wolverine-style healing power, the thing was terrifying me because I didn’t know what it was, however due to the relaxation I felt after my earlier bedroom activities with the King of Hell, I managed to keep a handle on my anxiety.  
Picking up my shampoo and shower gel from the floor, I resigned to leave the glass in the sink until after my shower. I pulled off my clothing and stepped into the stream, allowing the scolding hot water to warm my skin while I imagined it was washing away all of my problems.

After spending way too long in the shower, I emerged dripping wet and thoroughly cleaned. I knew what I had to do to solve at least a couple of my problems. I pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a fresh t-shirt and picked up my phone. Scrolling through the contacts, I found the number I needed and hit the call button. It rang twice before connecting.  
“Emma, is everything OK?”  
“Sam! Hello to you too. Listen, I was wondering if you would mind meeting up with me. Say in a couple of hours at the usual bar by you guys?”  
“Of course, we’ll see you there.”  
“Oh, Sam? Is it OK if it’s just the two of us? We, uh, we need to talk.”  
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll see you there.”  
“Thanks, Sam. See you later.” I hung up the phone. Thankfully the phone call wasn’t too awkward after Sam had kissed me earlier. I can’t exactly say I was looking forward to the conversation we had to have, but for the sake of fighting off the forces of evil we had to put all this behind us.

I shook off the thoughts and retrieved three large cardboard boxes that were flat packed underneath my bed. I guessed it was time to pack up and move on, it’s not as if I was particularly attached to this place, it was just a roof over my head and that’s all it had been for the past two years I had been renting it. Growing up in the foster care system had quickly taught me that it was futile to get attached to anything, so I didn’t have many possessions. I made quick work of packing up what little I did have, my clothing, some shoes, my computer and a couple of books. I took the boxes down to my car and put two in the boot and one on the back seat. I threw my jacket, rucksack and a duffel bag with my final few belongings onto the passenger side and got in and started driving.

On my way to the bar to meet Sam, I made a quick stop at my letting agents office to toss the keys on their counter and make a quick exit before they could ask me for any payments and got on the road.

______________________________________________

I arrived at the bar about a half hour late and parked up next to Sam’s car. He had been outside the bar waiting for me and as he saw me approach, he walked over to greet me.  
“Hey, everything ok?” His manner was a little more stiff than usual, I guessed that he was as apprehensive about the conversation we needed to have as I was.  
“Yeah, everything's fine. Or it will be. Or something.” I smiled up to him with a shrug of my shoulders.  
“What’s with the boxes?” He nodded to my fully packed car.  
“We’ll get to that, I need a drink first. Shall we?”

We entered the bar and grabbed a booth in the corner. Sam got us some drinks and we settled down for our conversation.  
“So what’s on your mind, Emma?” He didn't look me in the eye, his gaze was on the brown bottle in front of him which he held with both hands. He was picking at the label, clearly nervous. I completely understood how he felt, I was feeling it too. The last time I saw Sam he had picked up that there was something between Crowley and I. Of course this was before I'd had sex with the demon, but we had kissed and there was definitely some openly flirtatious behaviour from both sides. I don't know what Sam had thought was going on, but I know he was only trying to protect me. I'm not sure how he had managed to go from warning me about demons to kissing me, but it had happened. I begun to feel incredibly guilty when I remembered my own actions. I didn't kiss him back, but I hadn't broken off the kiss straight away. I hadn't even looked at him, I had just left without an explanation. I felt horrible but I needed to get all this cleared up. It was a strange feeling, I'd never had to take care of damage control like this before, I'd always been the type of person who would just move on, but there were so many reasons for me to stay and accept responsibility. Sure, there was the whole situation with the ring, but it was the relationships between myself, Dean and Sam that was more important and kept me going back to them. I freaking _love_ them. I've never actually loved anyone before but this feeling inside me, this part of my heart that was filled with memories and feelings about the Winchester brothers was so huge that I was certain it was love. I would gladly give my life for those two knuckleheads and I know that they would do the same for me because we were like some weird sort of family, and that's far too important to let a crush or a kiss break it all apart.  
“Ok, well, I’ve had the worst few days, Sam, I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve been evicted from my apartment and I’ve got nowhere else to go.”  
“Oh!” Sam looked a little relieved at the trivial problem. “Well, you can come back to bunker and stay with us for as long as you need. It’s probably a good thing because of the ring.”  
“Yeah, that’s another thing. The ring. I, uh, I got hurt and the ring healed me. Whatever it is, it’s active.” I continued.  
“You got hurt? What happened?” Sam sat up straight.  
“Oh, I’m fine, it was just a little domestic accident.” I lied, not wanting to tell Sam about my earlier fit of rage. “Now, I know the whole ring thing is important, I want to find out what it is and take it off even more, so you’re right, me being at the bunker is going to be the most logical thing, but,” I sucked in a breath and gathered my wits. “We need to talk about what happened before I left. You kissed me, Sam.”  
“Yeah. I, uh, I did. I have feelings for you, but I’m guessing you don’t feel the same way about me.” He lowered his eyes from mine and I reached across the table to take his hand.  
“Sam, I’m sorry. It’s complicated, really complicated. I really do care about you a lot, but I see you and Dean as my brothers. I’ve never had that before.”  
“No, I get it. Dean sees you as a little sister too. And of course, this line of work, it’s hard to have any kind of romantic relationship.”  
“Sam, I wish I could lie to you and say that’s exactly it, but you know me, I call a spade a spade.” Sam looked at me with his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. “There kinda, sorta is someone right now.”  
“There kinda, sorta is someone?” Sam repeated my words as a question.  
“Yeah, it’s incredibly complicated. I have no idea what’s going on, whether he likes me or if he was just scratching an itch. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be talking to you about this, not yet anyway.” I realised that I was just about to spill my Crowley problem to Sam, the man who I’d literally just friend zoned, or should I saw brother zoned.  
“Ha, no Emma, it’s OK. He’d be an idiot if he doesn’t like you, you’re funny and sweet and gorgeous.” He smiled at me. "I'm sorry I kissed you. Being a hunter, I don't often get the chance to get as close to someone as I've gotten to you. With everything that's been going on lately, the ring, Crowley behaving so weirdly, there hasn't been a reason for me to not have you on my mind, I guess it just got a little intense."  
“There's no need to apologise, Sam. You did absolutely nothing wrong at all. I want to apologise, I feel like such a dick because I just left! I didn't give you any explanation, I just ran like a coward! And then there's this ... guy!" I had to stop myself from saying demon. "Emma, really, don't worry about it. I don't blame you for running out, I should be apologising for landing this on you when you've got so much else on your plate, the ring, your guy. It's ok, I'm ok, we're ok." "Thanks Sam. I really appreciate it, but you don't need to apologise, I don't blame you for anything. But, moving on, is that offer of a place to stay still open?" I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.   
“Of course it is! I’ll call Dean from the car and tell him to make sure he has pants on.”  
We talked some more and decided I would bring my car to the bunker and park it in the garage, finished up our drinks and went out to our cars. Before I started the engine I pulled out my phone, found Crowley’s number and typed a quick text  
_Human problems taken care of in a human way, staying at the chez Winchester ~ E x_  
I started the car and followed Sam to the Men of Letters bunker.


	10. Round Two

It had been a couple of days since I’d moved into the bunker with Dean and Sam. I’d been given the grand tour of the Men of Letters bunker by a rather excited Dean. He obviously loved this place, especially his own room with his guns and knives racked up on the wall.  
Sam had been a bit tense at first, but he seemed to be getting used to my being there and thankfully any awkwardness seemed to fade away.  
We spent our time reading the books and digging through files in an attempt to find out more information about my mysterious ring. Of course we kept our eye on the papers and news websites in case any cases came up and eventually, one did. A couple of bodies had turned up a few states over with their entire insides eaten.  
We packed up our weapons into Dean’s Impala and set off feeling quite excited that we finally had something to do. 

During the drive, I sat behind Dean, stared out at the scenery rushing past us and allowed my mind to wander. I hadn’t seen Crowley since we had slept together in my old apartment. I wondered what this thing was between us, I was mostly positive that it was just sex and now that he’d gotten his wicked way with me that would be the end of it, but I kept thinking about the things he said to me before he left. He had asked me to work for him and he hadn’t said goodbye, he’d said “until next time”. If I was being perfectly honest with myself, I wanted more from him. Of course, the sex was amazing and I would love to do that again, but it was more than sex, there was something about him that kept on drawing me to him.

"Earth to Emma!" Dean's loud voice cut through my thoughts. "We're here."  
I snapped out of my thoughts and looked out of the window at yet another motel parking lot. I hopped out of the car and followed Sam to the front desk to pay for a room. They didn't have any adjoining rooms so I got one to myself while Sam and Dean got a twin to share.  
The plan was for the two brothers to pretend to be FBI to get into the morgue and see the bodies, then visit the victims families and I would stay in my motel room doing more research.

An hour after the boys left there was a knock at my door. I wasn't expecting anyone so I grabbed my gun and opened the door a couple of inches ready to defend myself from attack.  
"Hello, darling." Crowley stood on the other side of the door and my stomach somersaulted inside me.  
"Why are you knocking, don't you just poof in wherever you want?" I opened the door and let him enter.  
"Well, you keep jumping out of your skin every time I do that, so I thought I'd knock today."  
"Well that's... Nice of you." I eyed him suspiciously. "So, what can I do for you?"  
"I was wondering if you'd thought any more about my offer, pet?"  
"To work for you? Crowley, I can't and won't work for you." I sighed, he just loved to torment me so.  
"That's a shame, I'll just have to find some other way to keep you close to me." He started walking towards me.  
"Keep me close to you? Why would you want to do that" my mouth started to go dry and my heart pumped harder.  
He was now standing right in front of me, he grabbed my waist with both of his hands and pulled my body forward until we were pressed together.  
"I can't get you out of my head, darling. I want you." He drew his face down to mine and kissed me. It wasn't rough and desperate like the other times we'd kissed, this was soft and gentle. He brought a hand up to my chin and let the pads of his thumb and forefinger ghost over my jawline as he licked my bottom lip, seeking entrance.  
I ran my hands up his chest and opened my mouth allowing his tongue to enter my mouth and mingle with my own.  
After a while of the hottest, most passionate kiss he slowly broke off, leaning his forehead against mine and rubbed his thumb over my lips.  
"Be mine, love." He whispered, his low voice dripping with seduction.  
"But... How...." I began, already panting through my arousal.  
"Like this." He replied and he took my hand and led me to the table in the small kitchen area.. He took off his jacket and his tie, leaving his shirt on, and held out his hand to me.  
He pulled me towards him again, his hand sliding up into my hair and pulling me forward into another exquisite kiss. His free hand came started on my hips, slowly inching upwards and underneath my t-shirt. He found my bra and followed it around to my back, deftly unhooking it with one hand. He brought his other hand into action, lifting my t-shirt up and over my head between kisses and pulled my bra off.  
He turned me around to face the table and pressed his body to my back as he palmed my breasts before trailing his nails down over my stomach to my jeans. I kicked my shoes off while he undid the buttons and began sliding my jeans down my legs into a pile at my ankles. I stepped out of the denim and kicked them off to the side and tried to turn around to face him.  
"No, love, not yet. Bend over the table." He growled at me and I complied, curious but eagerly anticipating what he wanted to do. He pulled the chair out of the way and I lay my bare breasts down on the table, my hands to either side of me and my head turned so that I could see him over my shoulder.  
"Beautiful." He breathed and ran his hands from my shoulders and down my back. He slowly pulled my pants down my legs, disappearing out of my view as he knelt down behind me and helped me step out of them before slowly running his nails up the outside of my legs, then scratching his nails down the backs. When he got to my calves, he turned direction and moving even slower, ran his nails up the inside of my legs, causing me to part my legs to allow him access.  
Teasingly, he skipped my entire sex and palmed my ass, kissing and biting one cheek and then the other. He brought his hands to my thighs and massaged them firmly for a couple of seconds. Suddenly I felt his hot, wet tongue run right up the centre of my folds making me gasp at the sudden contact. His tongue was followed by two fingers running either side, teasing me again.  
"You taste divine, love." He said as he slipped a finger all the way inside me. "Mmm, so wet..." He pulled his finger back slowly, slipped a second finger inside and massaged my front wall.  
I was already panting and I moaned loudly as I felt him hitting that sweet spot inside. He pumped his fingers into me a few more times before pulling them out completely and I whined in protest.  
He slapped my ass hard, making me shout out loudly. The skin was tingling with pain but it felt so good. He rubbed the raw area before holding his hand on top of my ass and I felt his nose run up the inside of my thigh next to my sex and his breath was warm on my moistness.  
He bit my folds gently, tugging on them with his teeth as I moaned in pleasure. I could feel my arousal throbbing inside me and I started moving my hips from side to side, I needed more, I needed release!  
Almost as if he sensed what I wanted, Crowley licked his way up one side and then the other before running his tongue around my opening. I could feel the stubble on his chin rubbing against my sensitive clit, the roughness causing a perfect friction.  
He returned to licking my folds as he pushed two fingers inside me again. I moaned loudly as I got the pressure I needed and rocked my hips.  
Pressing his mouth onto my clit, he began kissing and nipping and sucking on the bundle of nerves and I moaned again and again. I could feel the familiar knot tightening inside me as my release was coming.  
Crowley took his mouth away from my clit and I heard a wet, sucking sound for a brief moment and then his mouth was back on my clit, the tongue running circles and tightening my knot more and more. It wouldn't be long for me to come at this rate, though just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I felt pressure on my ass hole as he rubbed his wet thumb around the opening.  
"Oh god!" I shouted out as I bent my knees slightly trying to get more pressure from his thumb.  
I was panting and moaning loudly as my orgasm was just seconds away, the walls of my vagina tightened and Crowley slipped his thumb inside my ass and it was just the move to make me explode in exquisite pleasure. He stopped licking my clit and kept pushing his fingers inside my pussy and his thumb inside my ass as he helped me ride through the waves of pleasure as I came harder than I ever have before.  
He slowly pulled his thumb and fingers out of me and grabbed me, turned me over, picked me up and carried me to the bed. He dropped me onto the bed and the look of animalistic arousal on his face almost made me come again. He kept eye contact with me as he undressed himself quickly, discarding his clothing carelessly on the floor. He knelt on the bed, putting his hands on my knees preparing to open my legs and earn his own release.  
"Not like this." I smiled up at him with my best devilish grin and rolled over. Getting to my knees, I looked at him over my shoulder and I thought I saw the faintest hint of surprise. I giggled softly and shuffled backwards slightly, towards him. He got the hint, grabbing my hip with one hand, the other holding himself in place and he pushed his erection slowly into my pussy. Once it was all the way in filling me up entirely, he brought his hand up to my other hip, gripping hard and began to slowly pull out before slamming back into me, hard. I moaned loudly, barely covering the sound of his flesh slapping against mine. He thrust again and again, creating a rhythm that built an intense pressure inside me. As soon as Crowley added to my moaning with soft grunts of his own, he stopped and pulled out.  
"Come here." He commanded as he sat back on his haunches. I turned over and he grabbed my ankles and pulled me forward towards him. He picked me up, keeping both hands on the small of my back as I wrapped my legs around him and used one hand to hold his dick and guide myself down onto him.  
He looked into my eyes for a moment and kissed me passionately and deeply as he held me on his erection. Slowly, he put his forehead to mine as he held me and began thrusting up into me. I placed my palms on his back to help keep myself upright. The pressure from this angle was intense and wonderful, his impressive cock filling up every part of me and hitting every spot.  
Sweat began to bead on Crowley's forehead and he leaned down onto my shoulder as his thrusting began to become more erratic. Just the sheer thought of him becoming close to release brought me dangerously close to mine.  
Finally, I felt the white mist descend as Crowley bit into my shoulder and I came as I felt his cock throb inside me with his own release.  
"Bloody hell! Fuck!" He shouted out as I moaned through my own intense pleasure.  
He leaned forward, slowly lowering me onto the bed and kissing me as he held himself up on his elbows.  
After the quaking inside me had subsided somewhat, Crowley slowly pulled out of me and rolled over onto the mattress, panting and staring up at the ceiling.  
My legs were like jelly and my heart pounding in my chest as I lay next to him.  
"Yes." I said breathlessly.  
"What?" Crowley asked, turning his head to face me.  
"Yes, I'll be yours." I reached over, put my hand behind his head and pulled him towards me so I could kiss him.  
"Good girl." He growled against my kiss. 

I don't know how long we lay there in our post coital bliss, but as my breath finally returned to normal, I heard a knocking at my door and a voice shouting "Emma, c'mon, we got shit to do!" It was Dean, bringing me back to reality.  
I sighed. "Duty calls." I sat up on the bed and looked at Crowley. He got up off the bed and came around to stand in front of me. He clicked his fingers and was fully dressed once again.  
"I'll see you later, love." He leaned down to kiss me slowly.  
"Mmmmm, I hope so." He stepped back a couple of paces, snapped his fingers and vanished.

I pulled on my clothes and glanced in the mirror to make sure I didn't look too wild. My hair needed a quick comb and my cheeks were a bit red, but apart from that, I thought I'd pass as decent enough.  
I grabbed my key and skipped next door to Sam and Dean's room.  
"So fellas, what we looking at here." I said in a sing song voice as i grinned at them.  
Dean looked up from the books in front of him, a pen hanging out of his mouth.  
"Well, well, well. Who's the lucky guy, you little minx?"  
My mouth gaped open."Oh god.... You heard? How long have you been back?"  
"Long enough." He winked at me.  
"Fuck..."


	11. The Power of the Lyrics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _This was originally posted as an additional part to the Man in Black series, but I have now moved it to be included as a chapter to make navigation easier_

It had been a couple of months since I’d told Crowley that I would be his, two months and 16 days to be exact, not that I was counting or anything. I was still staying with Sam and Dean Winchester, my brotherly hunting companions and it had been an interesting time sneaking Crowley into my room at the bunker, or having him in my motel room when we were out on a hunt.  
The boys knew that I was having a complicated sexual relationship with someone, they just didn’t know that it was the King of Hell. If they found out I was confident that they would kill me, then him and then me again.  
Of course, Crowley being Crowley, he found ways to pop into our lives constantly, mostly under the premise that he was interested in the magic ring that wouldn’t come off my finger. It was torture having him nearby while Sam and Dean were in the room. He kept copping a feel under the table, sneaking a kiss when the boys weren’t looking and finding excuses to be constantly in my personal space, brushing fingers when he reached for a book, trailing a hand across my back or ass as he walked past me. In all honestly, I’m surprised that the boys hadn’t picked up on anything at this point.

We hadn’t labelled our … whatever this was. I’d agreed to be his but we hadn’t talked about whether or not that made me his girlfriend or if we were indeed in some kind of committed relationship. Mostly, our time spent together was romping in the bed, or on the table, or in the shower, or on the kitchen counter, or up against the bookshelves. It was hot, steamy, x-rated, passionate, soul satisfying sex. It was beautiful in a way, but I couldn’t help but find myself wanting more.  
Crowley never stayed after sex. He either had an excuse to leave or we had to hurry before we were caught with our pants down, literally, and I found myself wanting some squishy, mushy stuff. Kissing and holding each other, hugs and snuggles. I didn’t know how to ask for it, I mean the guy’s a freaking demon, is he even capable of love hearts and flowers?

I was in the Men of Letters library hunched over yet another book, I wasn’t even reading the text in front of me, I was staring into the page thinking about Crowley.  
“You’ve been on that same page for a half hour now, you thinking about Joe again?” Dean brought me down to reality. The boys were constantly asking for details on the guy in my life, and when I made it apparent I wasn’t giving anything up, they’d made their own story up in order to tease me. They’d named him Joe and he was a blonde, over-sensitive writer who did pottery and yoga in his spare time. He still lived with his mom and had three cats. I had to laugh, he sounded far too similar to a guy I had actually been on two dates with a few years ago.

I was glaring at Dean, not giving him the satisfaction of a verbal response, when Sam walked in.  
“So get this,” he started in his usual way that told us he’d found a case. “There’s been a string of murders at this bar in Maine, bodies found all bent and twisted in horrific ways. Sounds like it could be our thing.”  
“Vengeful spirit?” Dean offered.  
“Could be. Shall we?” Sam looked a little relieved that we were finally going to be getting out of the bunker for a while. “You could call Joe and tell him to meet you at the motel.” He was just mocking me now. I threw my book at him and headed into my room to pack up some things.

A day later we were sat around a table in a motel room. Sam and Dean had been to the bar while I stayed behind to do some research. They had impersonated FBI to question the bar’s owner.  
“It turns out all of the victims were amateur singers who performed regularly at the bar’s open mic night.” Sam was telling me.  
“Huh.” I grunted, not looking up from my laptop. “Definitely sounds like a jealous spirit. We need someone on the inside to talk to the regulars, find out if any of the performers died recently and if there’s anything tying them to the bar. I’ve got an idea.” I turned the laptop around showing the boys an advert on the bar’s website.  
“You’re going to sing at the bar?” Dean looked at me incredulously.  
“Hey, don’t give me that look, I’ll have you know that I can carry a tune!” I jumped up and grabbed my keys. “I’ll call you later, I’m going to go audition!”

A few hours later I was sat at the bar calling Sam. After three rings he picked up.  
“Hey Sammy! I got it! I’ve been practising with the house band this afternoon and I’ve got some very interesting gossip for you guys.”  
“Ok hold on a sec, I’ll put you on speaker. I should let you know that Crowley’s here too.” Sam sounded a bit pissed at that.  
“Hello, darling.” Crowley’s gruff voice came through the speaker of my phone and sent a wave of butterflies through my stomach. “What’s this I hear about you becoming a singer and running away to Vegas?”  
“Haha, Crowley, Not quite. It’s just an amateur open mic thing, no big deal. Listen, boys, there’s this woman who used to sing here a lot, she won competitions and stuff. She used to be a bit of a diva though, she loved the spotlight and hated newcomers. A few months ago, she was mugged and killed in the alley behind the bar. There’s a sort of tribute to her backstage, they’ve got a trophy that she won, so I’m guessing that’s what’s tying her spirit here. I can grab it, salt and burn and it’ll be mission accomplished.”  
“Yeah, sounds good to me.” It was Dean’s voice on the speaker this time. “You don’t even need to stay and sing, we can be on the road by sunset.”  
“Ummm, actually Dean, I was thinking I should stick around for the show, you know, just to make sure nobody gets killed tonight.” I was actually looking forward to being on a stage behind a microphone losing myself to the lyrics, I hadn’t done it in so long.  
“You’re gonna stay?” Dean asked. “We’ll come meet you, what time does the show start?”  
“Look, you guys don’t need to come, really, I got this.’  
“Darling, we wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Crowley’s voice came again, sending a shiver running down my spine.  
“Of course.” I sighed. Of course they were going to be there. “I go on at 8:15.” I hung up.

“Emma!” a bright, cheery voice sung out from behind me. It was Ed, the bassist of the house band who would be providing the music for my performance this evening. “So, do you want to choose a song for tonight? I’m looking forward to it, we haven’t had a contralto like you in a while!”  
“Thanks Ed.” I said.  
“Hey, you sound a little solemn there, honey, everything ok?” I looked up at Ed, he was about an inch shorter than me, spiked purple hair and thick rimmed glasses. I smiled at him.  
“I just found out that this guy is going to come watch me sing tonight. I’m sort of in a complicated relationship with him, I guess, I don’t know. It’s complicated.”  
“I see, so complicated that you had to use that word twice.” Ed wiggled an eyebrow at me.  
“Yeah.” Ed had one of those faces that I felt I could open up to. After tonight I’d probably never see him again and it felt good to have someone who wasn’t involved listening to me. “We’ve been messing around for a couple of months now, but I’m starting to feel like I want more from him.”  
“Oh honey.” Ed sung in a soothing voice. “You know what you need? You need to be a straight shooter with him. You are one hot momma and he would be an asshole to refuse you. Tell him how you feel. In fact!” Ed sat up straight as an idea struck him. “Use tonight to your advantage.”  
“How do you mean?” I asked, intrigued.  
“The power of the lyrics, honey!” He beamed at me and understanding washed over me.

A few hours later, I was stood backstage waiting for the redhead on stage to finish singing. I’d already managed to sneak the trophy away from the bar and it was now salted and burned so the mission was over.  
My heart was pounding in my chest as I thought about what I was about to do. Ed was next to me, we’d struck up a great friendship since I spilled my story to him earlier.  
“Here, sip and breath, honey, you’re going to be great!” Ed handed me a glass of amber liquid.  
I sniffed it before taking a small sip.  
“Mmmm, Wild Turkey, my favourite.” I winked at Ed.  
I slowly sipped my drink and ran my hand over my dress. I’d picked a floor length black gown from the dressing room. It was long sleeved and very figure hugging all the way down to mid-thigh where it began to flare out in a beautiful fish tail design. I’d left my hair down, pushing one side back and bringing the other side forward over my shoulder and I’d added a couple of curls to the ends. I’d kept my make-up simple, a classic smoky eye and soft pink lipgloss.

The sound of applause caught my attention and suddenly it was my turn.  
Ed accompanied me on stage and went to pick up his instrument. The previous singer wanted only a piano player for her song and I was thankful as it meant I had Ed to keep me from fleeing while I waited.  
As I stood in front of the microphone, I heard the emcee announce my name and the band struck up the first chords of my chosen song.  
The guitar rang out seductively and I licked my lips and opened my mouth to sing.

_The world was on fire and no one could save me but you._

_It's strange what desire will make foolish people do._

_I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you._

_And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you._

I glanced briefly at Ed and he grinned at me, letting me know I sounded great, before I turned my eyes to the crowd. Slowly I scanned the faces at the various tables before coming across Sam, Dean and Crowley sitting at a small table to the left of the stage.  
Slowly, I brought my hands forward and gripped the microphone stand.

 

_No, I don't want to fall in love_

_No, I don't want to fall in love_

_With you, with you_

I felt myself getting into the song as I softly swayed my hips in time to the music. I found a pool of courage inside me and I tipped my head forward slightly as I gazed right into Crowley’s eyes. 

 

_What a wicked game you play to make me feel this way._

_What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you._

_What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way._

_What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you_

I saw him shift in his chair slightly and I was spurred on by the satisfaction that he was definitely getting my message.  
I pulled the microphone free of it’s stand and stepped towards the edge of the stage. I faced Crowley straight on and sang as I held his gaze. 

I got a good round of applause as I finished the song, I dipped into a small curtsey with a big smile on my face and walked backstage, my heart hammering away in my chest.  
“Girl that was amazing!! Was that him you were looking at, the guy in the black suit? You definitely got his attention!” Ed was beaming at me and chatting away animatedly. “You are so going to get lucky tonight!”  
I went to the dressing room and quickly changed into my own clothing then made my way outside, letting the cool air of the night touch my face.  
“You have a beautiful voice, darling.” Crowley was slowly walking towards me, his hands in his pockets. “Tell me, what made you choose that song?”  
I stepped towards him, still feeling the high from being on stage and singing out my heart, baring my feelings for everyone and everyone to see.  
“You. It was you.” I whispered breathlessly as I stood with my face mere inches from his. I reached up and rested my arms on his shoulders as I pushed one hand up through his hair.  
“I’m falling in love with you.” My heart was threatening to burst out of my chest and my legs were trembling. With the last bit of courage I could muster, I pulled his head down and kissed him as passionately as I could.  
“Emma! What the hell!” I heard Dean’s voice coming from behind me, but it was too late, I was completely gone with the kiss.  
Eventually we pulled away and stood looking at each other. Crowley brought his hand up and gently caressed my cheek.  
“Emma, I love you.”  
I released the breath I was holding and a huge grin spread across my face.  
“Take me back to the motel?”  
Crowley clicked his fingers and we appeared in the motel room, still holding each other.

That night, Crowley and I had the most intense, passionate sex I could have ever imagined and afterwards, he stayed and held me in his arms, caressing me.  
We’d left Sam and Dean in the alley behind the bar and they were going to absolutely murder me in the worst way, but right now that didn’t matter. I’d deal with that in the morning.  
Right at that moment I was simply enjoying being in the moment and I fell asleep in Crowley’s arms.


	12. Let's Face the Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _This was originally posted as an additional part of the Man in Black storyline but I have now moved it to be a chapter to make navigation easier._

He lay back on the bed of the motel room and took in his surroundings. The ceiling was yellowed, the drab brown patterned wallpaper was faded and peeling in places. The mattress he lay upon was lumpy and the sheets were scratchy. As the sunlight forced it’s way through the thin curtains on the window, he could hear the occupants from some of the other rooms. There was a child crying and a couple arguing somewhere.  
The environment was far less than he would have normally tolerated. With the power he held, he could have had anything he wanted. A five-star hotel with silk sheets and staff awaiting his command, a penthouse suite with nobody else’s noise infiltrating his peace and quiet.  
All the luxury in the world was just a click of his fingers away, but there was actually nowhere else in the world, on Earth or in Hell, that he wanted to be right now because this was her room, this was Emma’s room.

Crowley looked down and saw her. She was fast asleep with her head resting on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. He had one arm around her shoulders, cradling her close. He brought his free hand up and stroked a few wayward strands of hair away from her face. Her blonde hair was soft and smelled faintly of coconut.He could feel the warmth of her body pressed against his own. 

It had been an intense night. Emma had been undercover in an amateur singing bar to hunt some jealous ghost and she’d stayed around afterwards to perform. He had never heard her sing before and there was no way he was going to miss the show. Her performance was incredible, she was a great singer with a rich, seductive voice. She had looked stunning in a floor length black dress and her hair cascading over one shoulder. He smiled to himself as he remembered what she had sung and how she had sung it whilst looking right into his eyes. The song was for him, it may have been someone else’s lyrics but she was singing it to him.

_What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way…_

He smiled as he replayed their conversation outside of the bar. She said that she was falling in love with him.  
He never thought it would be possible for anyone to feel love for him.  
He thought back to his childhood, it was just him and his mother and he would have done anything to get her attention, to win a smile, to hear her say his name affectionately, but no, it never happened. Mother was always too busy reading her books and mixing up funny smelling ingredients, or speaking in that weird language with those bones on the table.  
She’d was always ducking out of their little home, telling him that she’d be right back. Sometimes it was days before she came back.

One time, he knew that something was different. Mother came back and she was out of breath and she looked frightened.  
“Fergus, pack up your things, we have to go now, pet.” She’d spoken to him in a shaky voice. He’d managed to grab some clothes and she pulled him out of the house, out of their home and they’d run away from the small village in the highlands of Scotland.  
They’d travelled for days, just Mother and him. It was hard going, there wasn’t a lot of food to be had and it was very, very cold. They were taking shelter in the houses of strangers sometimes, but he didn’t like being there. The strangers would behave very oddly and had blank faces as Mother spoke that funny language to them.  
Eventually, the two of them came across a large building and he’d been told to wait outside while Mother talked to the owners. He’d watched the other people there, they were all very busy, there were even a few children there scurrying about here and there. As he watched them he soon realised that the children weren’t playing, they weren’t happy, they were working. There was a sinking feeling deep inside his tummy when he saw Mother walking over to him.  
“Fergus, I need you to stay here for a while, but don’t you worry my wee sausage, I’ll be back in a flash!”  
Then Mother was gone and he was left in that building. They made him wear the same clothing as the other children and they made him work very hard. Some of the children were mean and would tease him. All of the masters were horrible and even caned him if he wasn’t quick with his work. Mother never came back for him.

As he grew up, Fergus realised that the entire world was cold and cruel and unloving. He married a woman and had a son, but he found her messing around with another man from town. As he turned to drink to wash away his problems, his own son turned on him as well.  
After he’d died and become a demon, he renamed himself Crowley and had forgotten all about love. He now deemed it weak to show love and foolish to need it. Sex was just another tool in his arsenal to get him whatever he wanted.

He’d never have expected to find himself, a few hundred years later, laying naked in bed with a human who made it feel like his heart was beating again, but sure enough there he was. There she was. Emma, the impossible human. Crowley was certain that he was completely in love with her.

Crowley had thought that he was completely done with the useless emotion called love, but there had been the series of unfortunate events as Sam Winchester had used him in the third Trial of God. Sam had attempted to cure him with purified blood and as the hours went on, Crowley remembered thinking about all the bad he had done in his life and the guilt had grown inside of him. He had thought he would be able to handle that, but as the remorse grew it brought back his pathetic need to be loved. Dean had stopped Sam from completely curing Crowley and it had left a horrible incomplete humanity burning inside. 

For hundreds of years Crowley had existed without the need to be loved until that day in that abandoned church with those denim-clad nightmares and their botched attempt to close the gates of hell. He’d convinced himself that the sense of humanity was leaving him little by little, but then he’d met her. 

The slamming of a door in the next room followed by angry footsteps brought him out of his memories. A knocking on the door followed by it being thrown open awoke Emma.  
“Hey, what’s going on?” She said, sounding a little groggy with sleep, yet reaching for her gun on the nightstand.  
Dean Winchester stood in the doorway, all chiseled cheekbones and fury in his green eyes.  
“I did not need to see that.” He averted his eyes from the thin motel sheets that barely left anything to the imagination. “5 minutes, I want you both dressed and in our room next door. We need to talk.” He slammed the door shut and left.

_____________________________________________________

After being rudely awoken by a door-slamming, pissed off Dean Winchester, I rubbed at my eyes and slowly sat up in bed. Turning my head towards Crowley, I smiled at him, saying good morning, and then retrieved my clothing from where it had been scattered across the motel floor.

I can’t say I was particularly looking forward to what Dean wanted to talk about. Crowley was, well, I want to say their enemy but that doesn’t seem to be straightforward black and white. The brothers have worked both with and for Crowley in the past and vice versa. They’ve also tried to kill each other in the past, but clearly that didn’t stick.  
When I’d first met Crowley, the boys had warned me all about him; don’t trust anything he says, keep away from him ad naseum, and I had been careful, I didn’t let my guard down but somehow, he got to me. He was smart and witty, devilishly handsome - no pun intended - and incredibly sexy. Despite his obvious affliction, being the demon king of hell, he was actually a perfect gentleman, and the sex… well, that’s another story.  
In all honesty, I can’t believe we’d managed to sneak around for nearly three months without Dean and Sam finding out. There had been some close calls and then there had been some really close calls. But here we were, finally, we’d been caught exchanging the L word.  
I giggled at the memory.  
“What’s so funny, love?” Crowley asked of me while my stomach flipped at his use of that word again. Now fully dressed, I crawled onto the bed and kissed him and cupped his face feeling the rough stubble graze my hands.  
“I love you.” I felt so free now that I could finally say it. Free and happy. He grabbed me and kissed me passionately.  
“I love you too, pet.” He replied, but our moment was ruined by another banging at the door.  
“C’mon you two, five minutes is up!”  
“Dean sounds pissed. Are you going to do your vanishing trick and leave me to fight the fire?” I turned to Crowley.  
“No, love, let’s face the Squirrel's wrath together.” With a click of his fingers he was fully dressed and standing in front of me. I looked up at him in surprise to see him holding out his hand to me.  
“Shall we?” I hadn’t expected him to stay, he had absolutely no reason to answer to Dean, in fact as King of Hell, he didn’t answer to anyone. I was still a little confused about his motives as I took his hand and together, we headed to the room next door.

Still holding Crowley’s hand, I opened the door to Sam and Dean’s room and we entered. Crowley closed the door behind us. Dean was leaning against the window frame just next to the door and Sam was sat on one of the two single beds.  
“Come in, take a seat.” Sam said calmly, though I could still tell by his voice that something was off. A weird feeling started to come over me, not unlike anxiety, I could just tell that I wasn’t going to like this. Regardless, I started to walk further into the room, pulling Crowley behind me so that we could go sit down when I felt him tugging at my hand.  
“Really?” I heard him say. I turned around and saw him looking at the ceiling where the boys had painted a devil’s trap.  
“Sam, Dean, there’s no need for this, let him go.” I said but my only response was Sam holding my shoulders and pulling me to the other side of the room, away from Crowley.  
“No, Sam, stop!” I raised my voice, feeling panic flaring in my chest.  
Dean stepped towards Crowley, slowly producing the demon knife.  
“What have you done to her, you demonic bastard?” Dean demanded of Crowley as I struggled against Sam.  
“Squirrel I assure you I have done nothing to her. Well, nothing that she didn’t want.” He said with a smirk. It was a poor choice to aggravate him further right now.  
“Dean, please, he hasn’t done anything, we met and we fell for each other. I love him!” I pleaded with Dean and I saw him flinch as I confessed the true extent of my feelings.  
“And you? Do you love her?” Sam said.  
“What the hell is it to you?” Crowley’s eyes had turned red and he was shouting. Things were turning from bad to worse pretty quickly. I could feel a mixture of fear, anxiety and something strange rising up inside me very quickly. “I’ve done nothing but try to help you out, had my demons out searching for anything that would tell us what that ring is and how to get it off her finger and this is how you repay me?”  
“If it weren’t for you she wouldn’t have that ring anyway.” Dean shouted back and tried to take a swing at Crowley with the demon blade. I felt helpless and terrified, I didn’t want anything to happen to Crowley. I raised my hands towards Dean and felt a strange twist inside me almost as if lightning was shooting through my veins. I watched as strange purple orb arced through the air straight at Dean, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying into the wall behind him where he slumped to the ground with a look of complete shock on his face.  
I could feel the electric warmth spreading to my extremities and I flicked a hand towards the devil’s trap on the ceiling, sending another orb crashing into the paint causing it to crack and freeing Crowley.  
Looking back down and seeing Dean on the floor seemed to break off whatever weird power had just coursed through my body, I cried his name and ran over to him, trying to see if he was ok.  
“I’m so sorry, Dean, I didn’t mean to, Oh God I’m so sorry!” I cried. Thankfully Dean opened his eyes and looked up at me. I could see the fear and the shock in his eyes briefly before he collected himself and tried to mask them. I shrank back, I felt like I needed to get out of there.  
“Just one more reason to get that ring off!” He tried to joke but it was too late, I was practically panting and my whole body was shaking. I kept whispering how I was sorry, that I didn’t mean it.  
Everyone was focusing on me now, I felt Sam come from behind me again and gently place his hand on my shoulder causing me to jump. Crowley was kneeling by my side softly calling my name. Even Dean was trying to reach out for me.  
They were too close, they were boxing me in and the room was shrinking on me. I jumped up and darted past Sam to the back of the room, pressing my back to the wall.  
Dean got up and all three men began to slowly come towards me and my panic hit fever pitch.  
“No!” I snapped and there was a breeze of purple smoke around me and I found myself in the middle of some woods. I whirled round in my new surroundings, but when I found that there was nobody else there, I sank to my knees and sobbed hysterically.


	13. Chapter 13

After a few moments I felt the panic ebb away and I took some deep breaths as I looked up to try to make sense of what happened. I was on my knees in the dirt in the middle of butt fuck nowhere. My eyes were stinging, the skin on my face tight with the dried tears I’d cried and my throat was hoarse from my sobbing. The daylight was waning as the woods cast eery shadows and the temperature began to lower as day was turning to night. 

I’d hurt him. Some weird power had come out of my hand and threw him into the wall. One of my two best friends in the entire wall had been knocked to the ground like a rag doll and it was at my hand. I remembered the look of fear on his face and another sob left me. I opened my palms and looked down into them, remembering the look and the feel of that strange ball of purple power that I had summoned. What the hell was it? How did I do that and how do I make sure it would never happen again?

Suddenly, I felt something. There was a faint tingling in the air behind me so I jumped to my feet and whirled around to see what the cause was. For a brief second there was nothing there and then he appeared, standing tall in front of me, his head tilted to one side as his blue eyes regarded my hunched form in an attack pose. I let the breath that I was holding escape my lips as I stood straight.  
“Castiel.” I let my arms drop to my side feeling exhausted and cold.  
“Emma, are you hurt?” The angel asked me.  
“No, I’m not. Is Dean OK?” I winced as his name left my lips. The name of the man who was my best friend. The man who was just like a brother to me. The man who I’d hurt.  
“Dean is fine. He’s worried, we are all worried, about you. Let me take you back.”  
“No!” I snapped feeling the power surge again. “I can’t go back, I can’t control this… This… Whatever this is. I can’t hurt anyone else.” I sank to my knees again and cried. I heard Castiel approach me calmly.  
“I understand. There is a cabin in these woods not far from here. Will you let me take you there?” I looked up to see him holding out his hand to me.  
“Yes.” I nodded weakly as I took his hand. I could feel that weird tingling in the air again, surrounding me, and then we were standing inside a cabin.  
“Castiel, I think I can feel you when you teleport. I sensed you before you appeared in the woods.” The angel didn’t say anything, he just looked at me in that curious way of his. I decided to change the subject. There was one question burning in my mind, one fear that had prompted my sobbing and my crying. I was terrified of the answer, but I needed to know.  
“Did they kill him?” I asked, closing my eyes. “Did they kill Crowley?”  
“No.” I blinked in shock and looked up to Castiel as relief washed over my body. “Sam and Dean have agreed to a truce with Crowley in order to help you. Emma, you are having sexual relations with the demon?” He regarded me with his narrowed eyes, still with his head cocked to the side. Castiel always looked like he was trying to understand something that was far beyond his comprehension. I laughed a little and went to sit down on the sofa facing the fireplace.  
“Yes, I am.” I answered plainly and honestly.  
“Is it consensual? Has he hurt you?”  
“Yes and no, Cas,” I used Dean’s nickname for him. “It’s consensual and he hasn’t hurt me. I made a move on him first and I’ve fallen in love with him.”  
“I see.” I was shocked that he didn’t try to convince me it was a terrible idea to be in love with a demon.  
“Cas, how did you find me?”  
“I can sense the power inside you. It is unique and strong. I have never felt anything of its like before but I may be able to help you control it.”  
“You could? I’d like that, I really don’t want to hurt anybody else.”  
“We can begin when you are ready.”

________________________________________________

Crowley tried to call Emma’s phone as he sat at the table in the Winchester’s motel room. He heard a faint tone outside of the room so without a word he teleported into the adjacent room, the room in which Emma woke up in his arms that very morning.  
Her phone was ringing on the nightstand beside the bed.  
Retrieving the phone and the rest of her belongings, he teleported back into the Winchester’s room, dropping her bag on the bed.  
“Calling is useless, she left her phone.” He announced. “Castiel, you giraffe.” He acknowledged the new presence in the room.  
“So do you think you can help us find Emma?” Dean ignored Crowley and addressed Castiel.  
“Yes, I can still sense the power, I can track her using it.”  
“You can sense her power? Well take me to her then!” Crowley commanded of the angel.  
“No,” Sam interrupted. “We’re not letting you get to Emma, for all we know you only want her because of that ring!”  
“Oh Bloody hell gigantor, I was interested in Emma before that ring came along. The only thing I care about is finding my bloody girlfriend and making sure she’s ok!” He raised his voice and out of the corner of his eye he could see Dean shaking his head at the word girlfriend.  
“Wait, she’s had that ring on for a couple of months now, are you telling me that it’s been going on that long?” Sam looked incredulous and Crowley simply looked smug for a while before turning to Castiel.  
“If you can track her down why are you still here?” The angel narrowed his eyes and Dean interrupted.  
“Cas, buddy, if you can find her, just make sure she’s ok and get her to come back. We’re going back to the bunker, we’ll meet you there.” With the soft sound of fluttering wings, Castiel vanished and Crowley let out a small sigh.

This feeling was horrible, he saw how distressed she was as Sam had held her back while Dean had attempted to kill him. He saw the look of anger on her face as she raised her hands and that bizarre ball of energy was thrown through the air knocking Dean off his feet and then she had thrown another one at the ceiling causing a crack to run through the painted Devil’s trap.  
He’d stood there with both shock and also the faintest hint of amusement at the power Emma had summoned to save him from Dean before he finally broke free of his thoughts and tried to get to her to make sure she was ok.  
She had looked like a trapped animal at that moment, eyes wild and desperately trying to get away, and then she had vanished with that strange cloud of purple smoke.  
Crowley had absolutely no idea what kind of power Emma now wielded or what she was capable of but that didn’t matter. He didn’t know what it was doing to her, she had looked so terrified and once she had disappeared, he didn’t have any idea where she was or how to get to her. He very much wanted to go to her, to hold her, to tell her that everything was going to be ok.  
Castiel had been able to sense the power Emma used and it had brought him to the motel room to find out what had happened. Crowley could sense the power she had used and it felt wonderful and strong, but once she vanished, he couldn’t sense it anymore. He actually felt helpless for once, Emma’s safety was now in the hands of that angel and all he could do was wait.

“What’s your plan now, more reading?” Crowley broke the silence as Sam and Dean were packing their belongings in preparation for heading back to their bunker.  
“It’s all we can do right now until Cas brings Emma back.” Sam replied, not looking at him.  
“Well perhaps we need a different angle.” .  
‘We” Sam snorted, clearly agitated at their allegiance. “Well, if you’ve got any ideas, feel free to share.”  
“You said it yourself, Moose, months ago. Why didn’t the ring affect you? Why don’t we try looking into what _Emma_ is rather than what the ring is.”  
Sam stopped what he was doing and looked at Crowley, brow furrowed in confusion.  
“What do you mean, what Emma is?”  
“Oh come on, do you think it’s complete coincidence that the ring affects only Emma? There’s something about her.”  
“What are you saying? Emma’s not human? Well, what is she?” Dean finally joined the conversation.  
“I don’t know, but maybe we should find out. I’ll meet you boys at your little club house.”  
Crowley summoned his power and disappeared from the motel room, simultaneously appearing in his throne room with his minions awaiting his commands.  
“Right boys, I’m sending you on a new research mission.” He announced loudly to the demons in the room.

_____________________________________________________

Castiel stiffened and I could sense his tension through his grasp on my shoulders. Very carefully, I suppressed the burning sensation of power coursing through my body and opened my eyes to look at the angel.  
“Castiel, what is it?”  
“Dean is praying to me again. He wants to know where we are and why we haven’t checked in. Emma, it’s been over a week, I need to tell him something.”  
“I know, Cas.” I sighed. “I think I’m ready to go back, I feel like I’ve got a handle on my power.”  
I looked around at the singeing and scorching on the walls from where my power had been uncontrollable at first. It had been a hard week but Castiel had been incredibly patient with me, not giving up even when I wanted to.  
“Are you sure?” Castiel looked down at me through his narrowed, blue eyes. I took a deep breath and allowed that burning to start up inside me again, starting as a tingle and willing it to grow, feeling it strengthen and turn into a pulsating electric current. I commanded it’s flow and concentrating on bringing it into my palm.  
Holding my hand up I could see that I was now holding a brilliant orb of purple energy. It was scorching hot in my palm, feeling like flames licking at my flesh. It hurt like hell but I was in control and it wasn’t damaging me. Looking up at Castiel, I smiled and vanquished the purple flames at a thought.  
“Yes, let’s go home.” Castiel stepped towards me in order to teleport us both to the bunker where Dean and Sam were undoubtedly pacing the floor, pulling their hair out that I hadn’t contacted them for the entire week.  
“Wait!” I stopped Cas in his tracks. “I’d like to practise my _poofing_ thing.” Castiel nodded and stepped back.  
I closed my eyes and pictured the bunker allowing myself to feel a sense of longing. A dizzying sensation came over me and as I opened my eyes there was a cloud of purple smoke dissipating into the air and I was in the library of the Men of Letters bunker. Sam and Dean were standing over a table with Crowley a thick file between them and clearly in the middle of a conversation.  
“I don’t know, this feels wrong.” Sam was saying.

A couple of seconds later, Castiel appeared next to me and Crowley looked up at me as if he’d sensed my presence.  
“What feels wrong?” I asked casually drawing all attention to myself.  
“Emma!” Sam and Dean said in unison as Crowley began walking towards me.  
Putting both his hands on my shoulders, he looked down into my eyes and I grabbed him, pulling him into a kiss.  
His arms lowered and circled my waist, I opened my mouth a little a licked at his lower lip. He granted my unspoken wish by parting his lips and allowing my tongue entrance.  
“Alright you two, knock it off!” I heard Dean say and I pulled slowly away from Crowley, biting his bottom lip a little as I went.  
I turned towards Dean and felt the familiar anxiety rise a little but thanks to Castiel’s training, I kept it under control.  
“Dean, I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to hurt you.” I took a small step towards him, not sure if he would allow me to approach.  
“I know, kiddo,” Dean walked towards me and pulled me into a firm hug. “I know it wasn’t your fault.” I laughed into his shoulder feeling an overwhelming surge of relief wash over me.  
“It’s good to have you back, Emma.” Sam said as I broke off the hug with Dean.  
“Come here, big foot!” I pulled Sam into a hug.  
“Where have you been for the past week? We’ve been so worried about you.” He said over my head as he hugged me tight.  
I began walking towards the table the boys were stood around when I appeared.  
“Well, we weren’t getting anywhere with removing the ring, so Castiel was helping try to control the power. I think we’ve made good progress, I mean I don’t think I’m going to accidentally fry anyone anymore. What’s this?” I stopped, looking down at the table.  
There was a manilla file about an inch thick on the table with a label that read:

_ST MARGARET’S FOSTER PROGRAM  
EMMA MILLS  
SEPTEMBER 14, 1983_

“Guys?” I looked around taking in their faces in turn.  
“Why not sit down, we’ve got a lot to talk about.” Sam said as he took a seat. Dean, Crowley and I followed his lead. Castiel approached the table but remained standing.  
“So, Crowley came up with the idea to look into your past to see if there was anything that would help us.” Sam started.  
“Yeah, Sammy had the ring on his finger first and it did nothing to him, so why did it choose you.” Dean continued.  
“Ok.” I felt apprehensive about this. If they had read that file, they now knew absolutely everything about me, the depression, the fighting, the shoplifting, everything. My whole troubled upbringing was right there written in black and white on those pages. “So what have you found out?”  
“We haven’t looked at it yet. It felt wrong without you here.” I let out a small breath that I didn’t realise I had been holding as Sam’s words put my mind to ease a little. Of course the boys wouldn’t have read the file, but Crowley…  
“But you have, haven’t you?” I looked up at Crowley and he shrugged at me. The bastard. “What did you find?”  
“Your upbringing was, well, as expected considering the situation.” He opened the file and selected a photograph, pushing it towards me before he continued. “But this is interesting.”

The picture showed two nuns and four children. There were two boys about 3 or 4 years old, one dark haired and one light, standing in the foreground of the photo. One of the nuns held a small, raven haired toddler at her hip and the second nun held a baby in her arms.  
“I don’t remember the other children, but that’s Sister Mary Agnes with the older girl and that’s Sister Mary Christina with the baby. The baby is me.”  
“I’m guessing Sister Mary Christina was around you a lot?” Crowley asked.  
“Umm, yes, how did you know?”  
“Take a closer look, darling.” I picked up the photo and brought it closer to my face, carefully studying the Sister holding me as a baby. The details weren’t as crisp and clear as modern day photographs but as I squinted I suddenly realised what Crowley was talking about.  
“Oh my God.” I covered my mouth with one hand as I looked into the Sister’s black eyes. “She was a demon.”  
“So we find the evil nun and get some answers.” Dean stated matter of factly.  
“Sure, I’ll look into St Margaret’s and see if she’s still there.” Sam offered, booting up his laptop. 

We were going to dig up my past. Great.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

"I didn't realise that demons slept." I stated casually as I lounged on my side across the top of Crowley’s bed, my head in my hand and propped up on one elbow. The bed was huge, far larger than any bed I've ever slept in or even seen on TV. It was made from a solid wood, possibly mahogany or walnut that was stained so dark that it was almost black. There were intricate Victorian-Gothic designs carved all around the frame and the thick mattress was dressed in black sheets made from the softest silk with plump pillows to match.   
The exceptionally beautiful piece of bedroom furniture was flanked by matching side tables and the room also held an extravagant chaise lounge positioned at the opposite wall, facing the bed, and a huge armoire to one side. The walls were covered in a dark plum paper with a filigree style pattern and there were floor length black velvet curtains hung over the huge window. All around the room hung various paintings depicting artistic representations of heaven, hell or battles between the two. 

When Crowley had invited me to his house, I had laughed at first. I just couldn’t get over the idea of him, a demon, the King of Hell, owning a house, it just seemed so normal! After the initial amusement, I started to feel quite excited, I had no idea what to expect and now that I was finally here and Crowley had given me the full tour of his house, I realised that the whole building was just perfectly Crowley. It was elaborate and grandiose, filled with expensive paintings and statues and dark, gothic furniture. It was far more than I could ever imagine and way over the top, but it was absolutely beautiful and I loved it all at the same time.

"We don't sleep, darling." Crowley stood at the foot of the bed looking down at me with that content little smirk of his. That smirk sometimes meant that he was toying with me, but sometimes it meant that he was simply enjoying the moment, either way I'd grown to both love it and to simultaneously want to knock it off his face, depending on the context.  
"Then why do you have this?" I swept my hand in an arc over the silk sheets, gesturing to the bed. "Wait, I'm guessing that I don't want to know the answer to that!" I giggled a little to let him know that I was just teasing.   
"Actually, this room didn't exist until very recently." He took a sip of the scotch he was holding in his hand.  
"What, all this flamboyance just for me?"  
“I'll have you know that _all this flamboyance_ was bloody expensive!” He barked at me whilst striding around the bed to put his glass down on the side table.  
He was now standing at my feet so I rolled over onto my back and sat up to face him. He was wearing his usual smart trousers and smart shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He was missing the tie and the jacket, giving him a much more casual look than normal.  
I was wearing black jeans with a silky black cami. I had to admit that I had started to dress differently recently and it was because of Crowley. He was always so immaculate that I began to feel a little scruffy in my blue jeans and rock t-shirts with holes in them, so I’d picked up a few new things. My new wardrobe still consisted of things that were comfortable and practical for hunts, but black turned out to be a flattering colour for me and it was much easier to hide the stains when I got covered in monster guts.   
Sam and Dean had noticed my image change and had chided me and Crowley for being one of those couples who dressed alike, but it wasn’t really like that, I didn’t want to dress like Crowley, I just felt better when I took a bit more care and attention in my appearance and having fun with different shapes and materials.  
The Winchesters were incredibly apprehensive of my relationship with Crowley when they had found out, but after constantly reminding them that I could take care of myself, they eventually seemed to give in to defeat. I would never say that they were happy with the relationship, but they had definitely let us be for the past four months since that day in the amateur singers bar.

I shuffled across the bed towards the edge, closer to Crowley, reaching up and running my fingers in the waistband of his trousers as I parted my lips and looked up at him putting on a sultry face.  
“Emma, love, I have a nice dinner planned for the two of us. You don’t want to skip straight to dessert do you?”  
My attire wasn’t the only thing that had changed recently. Lately my sexual appetite had become insatiable and when I felt the need I had to have it. I wasn’t quite ready to admit it, but deep down inside an anxiety was building, an anxiety that suggested that I was worried about what the ring was doing to me. The silver ring etched with strange symbols and adorned with an amethyst and two onyx stones was still attached the middle finger of my right hand and I still had the purple eyes and the strange abilities. We’d discussed the possibility that it wasn’t all down to the ring and that there was something hidden in my past that may offer some sort of explanation and we were still on the hunt for the demon who had possessed the nun at the foster home where I grew up but she was proving incredibly difficult to find. Once the demon had left the nun’s body, Sister Mary Christina had become inconsolable, always crying and screaming about demons and had eventually hung herself. The actual demon had seemingly vanished. There had been a couple of leads but they had turned out to be dead ends.  
So far I’d been holding up just fine, well, on the surface at least. Inside I was panicked and terrified. I didn’t know what the power was or how to fully control it, and in the past month, I’d felt something changing inside me. I was a bit of a mess to be honest. I kept snapping at Sam and Dean and had even lost my temper with Crowley once or twice.   
Right now, in this moment in Crowley’s bedroom, I was feeling a hunger rise within me. My heart was thumping hard in my chest, I could feel a tingling sensation wash over my cheeks and my breathing had quickened. I wanted Crowley right here and right now.   
I stood up from the bed forcing Crowley to take a step back, then I grabbed him and spun him around so that he was now standing with his back to the bed. He tried to say my name in protest, but I put one foot behind his and pushed him back so that he tripped over me and fell onto the bed. I immediately pounced on top of him and began unbuttoning his shirt while kissing and nipping at his neck.  
Crowley grabbed my wrists and flipped me over so that he was now on top and began kissing me.   
“What the hell has gotten into you, woman?” He growled between kisses.   
The tingling across my cheeks intensified, my mouth started watering and I felt my stomach suddenly turn. This wasn’t right, something was wrong.   
“Get off me!” I pushed at Crowley’s chest as I turned my face away from him.  
“Don’t be such a bloody tease, you started this.” He kissed my jaw and neck as I continued to wriggle underneath him.  
“No!” I shouted and pushed him hard. He fell off the side of the bed and I leapt up making a run for the bathroom. I heard him shout my name as I slammed the door.  
I stood at the sink and looked into the mirror. My eyes were wide and my face was reddened. I felt dizzy and hot and my stomach turned again as I felt something rise in the back of my throat.   
Crowley was knocking on the door, calling my name and begging me to tell him what was going on, but I couldn’t answer. I spun around towards the toilet and dropped to my knees as I threw up the contents of my stomach into the water.  
Eventually, the retching subsided and I was out of breath. My eyes were streaming and I could feel a burning in the back of my throat from the bile that had come up. I could still hear Crowley outside of the door. The anger in his voice had vanished and was replaced by concern.  
“Emma, what’s going on in there? I’m coming in!”  
I reached up and flushed the toilet so that he wouldn’t have to see my vomit just as he opened the door. He stood there for a few seconds and looked down at me. I must have looked absolutely disgusting slumped on the floor by the toilet.   
He lowered himself to his knees next to me and pulled me to his chest. I had no energy at all so I slumped against him as I felt hot tears rolling down my face. I hated being sick and I hated that Crowley had to witness it. Without a word, he picked me up and carried me to the bed, laying me down gently and sitting on the edge next to me. He clicked his fingers and a large glass of water with ice appeared in his hand, he held it out to me.  
“Here, love, drink this.” I sat up and took him up on the offer, quickly downing a quarter of the glass. Crowley took the glass back and placed it on the side table.   
“Are you ok?” He asked as he ran his hands through my hair. I shook my head and began to cry quietly. I sat up and rested my head on Crowley’s shoulder as he held me with one hand on the small of my back and the other continuing to stroke my hair. It felt comforting so I stayed quiet for a few minutes and let my tears run their course.   
Eventually I pulled away and took a deep breath. Crowley’s shirt was still unbuttoned from where I had jumped him earlier so I put a hand on his chest and allowed myself to feel the hair there, enjoying the physical connection. I took a deep breath before I began.  
“I’m scared. This ring, or whatever is happening to me, it’s changing me. I can feel something that I don’t understand happening to me. I’m moody and then there’s the need for sex, like, all the time.”  
“I see.” Crowley said softly. “You know, mood swings and sex are things that humans deal with all the time. We’ll get through this. I was going to tell you over dinner that I have another lead that may be able to tell us more about where you came from.”  
“You do?” I sat up straight as my hopes rose. I was beginning to get desperate for anything that would help.  
“You remember the photo I showed you from the foster home?”   
“Yeah, the one showing that Sister Mary Christina was a demon?”  
“Yes, well that particular sister may be dead, but the other one isn’t, and she hasn’t aged a day since that photograph.” Now Crowley truly had my interests piqued.   
“Sister Mary Agnes? What are you thinking, another demon?”  
“We’ll soon find out. I’ve got her to agree to a meeting with you in a couple of days time. In the meantime, what would you like to do? Would you like some dinner?”  
I laughed and nodded. My stomach seemed to have settled itself somewhat and I realised that I was indeed quite hungry. I took Crowley’s hand and he led me downstairs to the elaborate dining room.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” I said as we walked.   
“See what love? Your crying? Being sick? There’s nothing to apologise for, my love.”  
“I guess it’s not something you see very often, being a demon and all. It’s not exactly an attractive part of being a human.” We’d now reached the dining room and Crowley stopped just before we reached the huge dining table which was laden with food. He must have had some demon servants behind the scenes preparing and fetching this for us. He held my shoulders and looked me in the eye.  
“Nonsense, I accept every part of you whether it’s human, the ring, emotions or sickness. I love you Emma.” He kissed my forehead before continuing. “Now, sit down. Eating something may help your stomach.” I couldn’t help but smile as I followed his orders.   
Crowley made small talk as I helped myself to the food in front of me. The food was wonderful and it did settle my stomach. I felt a mixture of apprehension and excitement over the meeting Crowley had set up for me, but there was nothing more I could do in the meantime so I allowed myself to laugh and joke with Crowley and for a couple of hours, I felt like we were a regular couple eating dinner together, despite Crowley not actually eating anything. 

After I had finished eating, Crowley came around the table and held his hand out to me. I stood and he led me into the front room where there was a fire burning in the hearth and a large leather sofa draped with soft blankets.   
“Hey, do you have some speakers I can plug my ipod into?” I turned to him and smiled as he nodded. “Great, I’ll just go get it from my bag.”  
I’d left my bag in the bedroom earlier, so I made my back up the stairs and rummaged around looking for the small red ipod. My fingers grazed over something lacy and I bit my lip as I smirked to myself, remembering what I had packed for tonight. I skipped back into the bathroom and quickly changed before heading back downstairs. 

“I like the outfit change, darling. What’s the occasion?” Crowley took in my black chiffon robe that wrapped around me in a figure hugging way and tied across the front.  
“Just something a little more comfortable.” I handed my ipod to Crowley. “Just press play, it’s all good.” He crossed the living room and plugged it in. Soon the sound of the music filled the room. I’d programmed a playlist full of deep, dark and romantic music, songs that were a little bit folk-rock and gothic. I smiled and swayed along to the first verse of Delta Rae’s Bottom of the River as Crowley watched me from across the room. As the song picked up I put my hands into my hair, closed my eyes and swayed my hips from side to side in time to the beat as I began to sing along to the lyrics.   
I felt Crowley’s hand on my hip and I opened my eyes to see him with a hungry look on his face. I pulled him towards me with my hands behind his head and put my nose on his, feeling his breath on my face. I pressed my lips onto his and kissed him deeply for a few moments before gently pushing him back and changing my rhythm as a new song begun to play.   
I took hold of the knotted belt of my robe with one hand as I put a finger in my mouth and held it between my teeth looking seductively at Crowley. He clicked his fingers and a glass of scotch appeared in his hand, indicating that he was happy to watch what I had planned for him. I smiled, and gently pushed him back until he sat down on the sofa and went back to my place on the fur rug in the centre of the room, dancing slowly to the sound of Johnny Cash’s version of Personal Jesus.  
As I danced, I began to turn around facing away from Crowley and brought my hands back to the knotted belt. Slowly, I began to undo it and then held one side of the robe open and out to the side so that Crowley could see what I was doing. I opened the other side of the robe and held it straight out at my other side and slowly allowed it to slip down my arms to my ass before allowing it to finally drop to the floor.  
I brought my hands up the side of my body, slowly grazing my skin with my fingertips as I continued to move to the music. I brought my hands up into my hair and held it up and out of the way to allow Crowley to get a good look at my body from the back.  
After a few beats of the music, I let my hair drop and brought my hands to my front as I turned to face Crowley. I held my hands across my chest for a few seconds, obscuring his view of my outfit before slowly bringing my hands back up to my hair and moving to the sound of Danger and Dread by Brown Bird.   
I saw Crowley suck in a sharp breath as his eyes wandered over my body, taking in the black satin and lace corset with matching panties and black stockings. I revelled in the look on his face, his lips were parted, his lower jaw set slightly forward with his tongue caught between his teeth to one side, his eyes were dark and his eyelids heavy. He sat with his legs spread open and I could see the unmistakable bulge of an erection in his trousers.  
I made my way over to him, took his hand as I pulled him in a standing position. He looked down at me hungrily and I allowed him a quick kiss before I began to unbutton his shirt, slowly travelling down his body. I continued by undoing the button on his trousers and taking down the zip. I pressed my breasts into his chest as I ran my hands down his ass causing his trousers and boxers to drop to the floor together and then stepped away and pushed him until he was sitting on the sofa again. He reached over to the side to set his now empty glass down on a small table and then held his hand out to me as if to help me get on top of him, but I pushed his hand away and sank to my knees in front of him, earning a questioning look from Crowley.   
I rubbed my hands from his knees up his thighs as I opened my mouth and licked my lower lip slowly. When I reached his dick, I took hold of it firmly in one hand and began to kiss my way up one of his thighs towards my goal.   
Crowley put his hand on mine and tried to get me to move up and down, but instead I bit into his thigh as a warning.  
“Ow! Bloody hell, love!” I simply giggled against his leg before continuing my journey. When I reached his stiffened member, I looked up at him briefly before dipping my head and licking slowly from the base to the tip and then swirling my tongue around the head. Crowley groaned in pleasure and the sound was exquisite, spurring me on.  
I put my lips around him and took the head of his dick into my mouth, sucking softly before pulling back and licking my way back to the base. Gently, I ran my tongue around one testicle and then the other while holding onto his dick and slowly pumping up and down.   
As I licked my way back to his tip, I caught a glance of him, Crowley had his head thrown back on the sofa in absolute pleasure. The sight made me smile against him as I took him into my mouth and bobbed my head down to about half way before slowly coming up and swirling my tongue around his tip. I continued my movements, each time taking a bit more of him in my mouth before I was about an inch before his base and he was hitting the back of my throat.  
As I increased the pressure of my sucking, I began to taste his precum and he began moaning more and more frequently. He put his hands in my hair as he lost himself to pleasure as I sucked him and fondled his balls with one hand.   
After a short while, his voice deepened a little and he called out my name.  
“Emma, I’m…. Oh Emma” I knew he was trying to warn me and he began trying to pull my head away, but I used my free hand to push his hands away and pushed my head down taking as much of him into my mouth as I could fit, curling my tongue around his shaft and sucking hard.   
“Aaaargh, oh Emma!” he called out my name as I felt his cock throb and a spray at the back of my throat. I eased off the sucking and bobbed my head up and down, easing him through his orgasm. As the throbbing of his dick stopped and I could hear him panting, I pulled off and stood up in front of him then straddled him, leaning forward to kiss him as I felt his cock rubbing at the crotch of my lace panties. He moaned into the kiss as I bucked against his sensitive dick. He grabbed my hips tight and pushed me firmly sideways making me lay down on the sofa. He turned himself around, pushed my legs open and lay down on top of me, holding my head as he kissed me passionately. He left a trail of kisses across my jaw, down my neck and on my chest. As he got to the corset, he squeezed the front in to pop open the fasteners and slid it out from underneath me to drop it onto the floor.   
Kissing and sucking at my nipples, Crowley supported his weight on one elbow as he fondled my breasts with one hand before trailing his nails down my front to my pubic area. He sat up quickly and dragged my panties down my legs before throwing them away and returning to his position on top of me with his mouth and tongue attentively playing with my nipple.   
He pushed his hand firmly down against my sex and then pushed two fingers in between my folds dragging them up to my clit where he pushed down and circled wildly. I gasped and moaned through his movements. He wasn’t messing around, he wanted me to come quickly.  
The pressure built quickly and I began to buck my hips pushing my clit against as hand more and more.   
He stopped suddenly and moved back down the sofa, picking my legs up and putting them over his shoulders before burying one finger deep inside me and pumping in and out quickly.  
Soon he added a second finger and I could feel the sweet pressure building more and more as I gasped and moaned along with his movements.   
I felt him put his mouth over my clit and he began licking it at an inhuman rate. My chest heaved as I breathed and moaned through my open mouth and within a few seconds I pushed my hands into Crowley’s hair, holding his head in place as I came around his fingers and against his face as I screamed his name into the air.  
After a while the throbbing subsided a little and I released my hold on his head. He pulled his fingers out slowly and crawled on top of me. His mouth, chin and stubble were wet with my juices and his hair was messy from where I had held him. I smiled up at him and kissed him deeply, getting off on the taste of myself on his face and mouth.   
In the middle of the kiss, Crowley began to push his hips into me and I felt his erection rubbing in my wetness. I moaned against the kiss and bucked my hips in time with his, letting him know I wanted it.  
He kissed me hungrily and slipped his hand down between our bodies to guide his hardened dick into my wet cunt. We moaned in unison as he felt me from the inside and I felt him filling me up.  
After a few moments he began thrusting, soon picking up a rhythm and pace. It wasn’t long before he slipped his hands into my hair and held my head while he looked into my eyes.   
“Emma,” he moaned. “I love you…” His voice trailed off as he scrunched his eyes shut and his mouth hung upon as I felt his dick throbbing inside me as he came.  
I reached up and kissed his face professing my love for him between my kisses. 

We were a hot mess when Crowley helped me up from the sofa. He held his hand out to me and I put mine in his.  
“Come on love, let’s go to bed.” He said as he smiled down at me. I stood up, kissed him and followed him to the bedroom. We lay down on the bed in each other’s arms and eventually, I drifted off to sleep.


	15. Questions & Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma finally gets some answers but they only raise more questions.

We were sat in the upstairs area of a small tea room in Wisconsin. I held my cup steadily in my hand and sipped slowly at my tea, My outward calm and patience was a complete contrast to the mess I felt inside. To say I was anxious about the meeting that had called us to this place was an understatement. My stomach was in knots and I had vomited five times this morning already and it was only 11:30am. I’d tried my hardest to hide how sick the anticipation was making me but I’d had to make Dean pull his Impala over at the side of the road twice while I threw up in the bushes. Both Dean and Sam were currently sat at the table with me giving me incredibly sympathetic glances as I hoped that my tea would calm my tummy at the very least. Castiel was stood against the wall just behind the table and Crowley sat at my side with his hand on my knee.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs caught my attention and I stood turning towards the sound.   
“Hello, I’m very sorry to have kept you waiting. My, what an audience, I wasn’t expecting all of you!” She entered the room and smiled at each of us in turn. I inhaled sharply as I took in her face. She really had not aged a single day since the last time I had seen her, she still had the same piercing green eyes that could see every single time myself or one of the other kids in the orphanage were up to no good.  
“Sister Mary Agnes?” I asked even though I knew the answer.  
“Yes. It’s good to see you Emma, you have grown into a beautiful young woman. Now, you must have many questions and I fully intend to answer them all.” She took a seat at the table with us. “I have to admit that I don’t do well in large groups so if you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to you alone.”  
“Nuh uh, no way. We’re not going anywhere.” Dean started, crossing his arms. “We’ve seen a photo of you from 1983, you haven’t aged. What are you?”  
“Dean, please.” I muttered at him.  
“Oh that’s ok, Emma. You have very protective friends. I like that you’ve found people to care about you.” She shifted in her chair as she considered her audience. “Very well, I will tell you who I am so that you will know Emma is not in danger, then we will talk alone. My true name is Zariel. I am an angel of the lord.”   
“Zariel, you are believed to have died a long time ago.” Castiel stepped forward and gazed intently at Sister Mary Agnes, or I suppose I should call her Zariel. She squinted back at him for a moment before a smile spread across her face.  
“Castiel? I thought I recognised you! it has been a very long time, my brother! Well, you know me and I’m sure you’ll vouch that Emma is in safe hands with me.”  
“You had us believe you to be dead, Zariel. Perhaps you could explain your absence from heaven before I “vouch” for you.”  
Zariel smiled for a long moment before conceding defeat.  
“It is somewhat complicated, Castiel. I was held against my will and forced to do things of which I am not proud. Emma is a large part of this. I wish to discuss this with you no further as I am running out of time. I believe I am being followed and I am not safe here.”  
“Guys, I’ll be fine.” I tried to reassure them. “I really just want to get some answers.”  
“You may go downstairs and you’ll be close at hand should Emma need anything.” Zariel offered and the guys finally got up to leave.

“You keep interesting company, my dear. An angel, a demon and two hunters. Not that I’m one to judge. Where would you like to begin, my dear?”  
“At the beginning, I guess.” I sat back with a sigh.  
“Very well. My duty as an angel was to assign souls to newborn babies. While I was visiting a mother about to give birth to twins, I was captured and held against my will. For a long time I was kept in a dark room with no doors and no windows. Nobody came into my cell and I did not know why I was being held or what I had done wrong. I was held for such a long, long time. I thought I was doomed to stay in that room for all of eternity. Eventually, a door that I did not know existed opened and a bright light hurt my eyes. The figure that stepped through the light was another angel, my brother. I thought he had come to save me and to take me home to heaven, but he was cold and cruel. He told me that he had a child who was destined to end the war between heaven and hell once and for all. He wanted me to bestow a very particular kind of soul on this child, one that he would he would have a hand in manufacturing to ensure that when the child was fully grown, he or she would have no choice but to fulfil the angel’s desires.  
Of course I refused to play any part in turning a child into a weapon, but he tortured me for days and days and days. I am ashamed to admit it but my will broke and I did as he asked.”  
Zariel lowered her gaze and hung her shoulders. After a brief silence and a sip of her tea, she continued.  
“I was taken into heaven to choose the soul. When I handed my brother the one he wanted, he took it into his hands and imbued it with his grace, I have never seen it done before and I can’t tell you what effect that would have on the soul or the child who bears it. I was then taken to a woman who was due to give birth any day and I was told to put the soul into her child. As I looked into the mother’s eyes I realised that I was looking into the face of a demon. I realised that my brother had created a child that was half angel, half demon. In my shock I found my voice once again, I told him that I would not bestow a soul on such a child, I would not complete the weapon that he was building. We fought but I was weak, he overpowered me and forced me to complete my task. In my last moment of defiance, I held the soul in my hands and poured all of my own goodness, willpower and hope into it, imbuing it with my own grace before joining it to the child. My brother realised what I had done and we fought again. I was certain that he would kill me now that I could be of no more use to him, but the demon went into labour and my brother left me bleeding on the floor. The labour was not long and the child was born quickly. While my brother was distracted, I took up his angel blade and I killed him and the demon mother and took the baby, I took you and I ran.”

I slumped in my chair. I tried to process the information the angel/nun had just given me, it was an incredibly tough story to follow, it seemed that I was some kind of half angel, half demon that had been modified somehow. My mind was racing and I felt the bile rising in the back of my throat. I ran to the bathroom and barely made it to the toilet as I threw up for the sixth time today.   
After splashing cold water on my face and calming myself down just enough to fight off a potential panic attack, I went back to table and sat down.  
“I have ordered us some fresh tea. Here, let me help you.” Zariel reached towards me and pressed two fingers to my forehead and I felt the sickness subside immediately.  
“Thank you. The anxiety has been driving me crazy these past few days.” Zariel seemed amused. “Wait, you said you killed the demon and the angel but I have a photo that shows one of the other nuns in the orphanage was possessed by a demon. You were in that photo too.”  
“Yes Emma, that’s why I stuck around with you. I don’t know how they knew about you, or even if they knew exactly what you are, but they certainly knew something. I stayed around to keep you safe.” She watched me for a while as I sat and sipped at my tea.   
“So, what about this ring?” I held my hand up to Zariel.  
“That has kept me busy for the last few months. The ring itself is nothing more than a trinket, a cheap magic trick if you will. I believe someone knows something about you, I don't know how much they know but it's enough that I have been working to try to find out who they are and what exactly they know.” She held her hand out for mine and examined the ring for a couple of seconds before pulling it off my finger in one smooth move. I gasped in surprise and took the ring back, holding it in my hand and staring at it with an open mouth.  
“See, nothing more than a mere trinket. All it does is amplify or activate whatever power the wearer already holds. Someone knew that you were with the Winchester boys and that they were involved with the King of Hell. They planted the ring on a witch and sent word to the demons. I don’t know why they wanted you to have your power, but you’ve got to be careful, there’s only so much I can do.” Zariel sat forward and took hold of one of my hands. “Emma, I know this has been an awful lot to take in and you must have so much going through your mind right now, but there is something else that you need to know. It’s not your anxiety that is making you sick, you’re with child.”

I couldn’t find the words, I simply sat in place dumbfounded. I’m pregnant?


	16. Out of the Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a teaser to see if I can continue this story. Feel free to drop me a line if you're still reading!   
> I have to apologise if this gets a bit dark, it reflects the darkness in my own life over the past year and three months.

I tried to open my eyes but the light was too bright. Blinding. Burning. Clumsily I put a hand over my eyes and tried to open them again, searching for the source of light so I could look somewhere else. 

Above me. The light is above me. _That's a start, so I need to keep my head down. Which way is down? Am I sitting, am I standing? There's something cold and hard pressed against my back, my legs and the back of my head. It wont move. That must be the floor. That's a start, I can work with that. Or can I? It's so bright and the buzzing, the ringing, it's in my head and it wont stop and I can't open my eyes and I don't know where I am and I don't know who I am and I...I...I_

_Breathe. Take a breath Emma, draw it in... 2 ... 3.. and let it go ... 2 ... 3.... Again, Emma, c'mon! In... 2... 3.... and out.... 2.... 3...._

_Emma. Yes, that's right, that's my name. My name is Emma and I'm lying on a floor and there is a bright light above me. See? You got this, Emma, you're doing it, you're really doing it! Good, you're in control. What would you like to do next?_

My hand was still over my eyes. _My hand. My eyes. I have those things, lets explore that further. Yes... two arms, two hands, a body, two legs, a head, I can feel it all. There's even hair, as annoying as it is right now. Just push it back, that's right, push it away from your eyes._

_Now, roll over, on your side. You wont have to look at that light again. UNNNFFFF... So difficult, I'm so stiff and I feel so heavy, but I got there. Ok, now try to get some information, information is good. Your name is Emma, your lying on a hard floor. What else do you know?_

_I'm in a room. It's empty. It's small. I can reach out and touch the... Door! That's a door! Woah, woah don't get too excited, NO! Don't try to get up just yet!_ The pain in my head pulsed and I thought I would explode until I collapsed back on the floor. 

_Ok, moving is not good. Let's just keep going with the thinking and the information, that doesn't hurt. Ok, so I'm on my side on a cold, hard floor in an empty room. Wait, the room's not empty, there's something on the floor in front of me... Oh, it's my hand. Hmmm... the middle finger, it's.. wrong. What's wrong with it? Oh! Something's missing._  

An image flashed into my head with intense clarity. A ring, silver with weird markings. A purple stone in the middle, quite big, and two little black ones next to it. _Isn't that the ring that... YES! That's it!_

**My name is Emma Mills. I'm 33 years old. I had a magic ring stuck to my finger that gave me magical powers. No, wait, I already had those powers, the ring just awakened them.**

**My name is Emma. I am a hunter. I kill the things that go bump in the night.**

**My name is Emma. I am all alone. But I don't have to be. There are people out there. People who care about me. Sam. Dean. Crowley...**

**I need to go to them. Think Emma, think...**

I concentrated hard on the faces of my weird little family. Sam and Dean, who I considered brothers, Crowley, the demon love of my life, even Cas who I haven't known very long. _The floor is... The floor is becoming less floor-like. There's smoke... it's purple! What's going on?!?!_

All of a sudden there is a breeze on my face and noise all around. The floor has sharp, loose pieces on it now. _I know this, what is it? It's gravel. I'm lying on gravel now. Can I open my eyes? Yes! There's something huge and black in front of me, is that.... That's a car! But it will hit me! Oh, no it's not moving. Parked, that's what it's called, see, I totally got this, I'm fucking awesome! Now, what else is happening?_

Voices. There are voices. Two of them. Men. Familiar. _No, they're moving away! No don't go!_

I forced myself to get up and a blinding, savage pain lit up across my entire body. I screamed with all I had and slumped to the ground again as the world returned to darkness.

 


	17. Danger and Dread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashbacks in Italics

_Dean sat at the table on the ground floor of the team room in Wisconsin. He absentmindedly scratched at the stubble along the side of his throat as he glared angrily at the Man in Black across the table from him. He felt the left side of his top lip curl up in an angry grimace but he didn't care._

_"Are you flirting with me there, Squirrel?" Crowley teased._

_"I still don't trust you as far as I can throw you, you son-of-a-bitch. I'm still not entirely convinced that all of this hasn't got something to do with you. Why would Emma, a red-blooded, hot HUMAN woman be interested in an old-as-shit king of sin like you? And the whole magical power ring thing? Well, that's just got your name written all ov..."_

_Dean's words were cut off by an almighty crash in the floor above. No sound followed, but Dean, Sam, Cas and Crowley all jumped up and ran to the stairs._

_Sam was first to the stairs due to being seated closest to them. He grabbed the handrail to aid in pulling himself up while his long legs bounded up the stairs two at a time. Dean was right behind him after unceremoniously shoving Crowley out of the way._

_"Emma, are you...?" Sam began questioning before he had reached the next floor. He froze at the top of the stairs causing Dean to crash into his back and elicit a "Goddammit, Sammy!"_

_Crowley, having had enough of the Winchesters, teleported up to the next floor and gaped at what he saw as Dean finally got around his giant of a little brother and joined in with the gaping. Cas was last to join the group on the second floor, but he didn't join in with the gaping, he just narrowed his eyes a bit further and kinda squinted at the scene in that contemplative way of his._

_The second floor was smaller than the first, it held only three tables and one half-full bookshelf. There were two small windows, one in the front of the building, facing out onto the street where the entrance to the tea rooms were, and one on the wall opposite the stairs, facing out onto a small alleyway that led to the rear of the property._

_The two hunters, the demon, the angel and Emma had come to this little tea room in Wisconsin just a couple of hours earlier to meet with someone from Emma's past, someone who may have been able to shed some light on some curious events that had happened a few short months earlier._

_It all started with a ring. Crowley had sent the brothers Winchester into a cabin in the woods to dispatch with a witch and retrieve an amulet said to hold some kind of mysterious, mystical power. There had been no amulet, but the boys had found a ring that seemed important. The ring, of unknown background, had firmly attached itself to the middle finger of Emma's right hand and worked some crazy hoodoo voodoo on her. In fact, it had knocked her out stone cold for a couple of days, turned her eyes purple and imbued her with some extraordinary talents of the supernatural kind. With the help of Castiel, Emma had just about gotten to grips with the power to teleport, throw swirling orbs of purple energy at her enemies and to magically heal herself from any wound._

_When research into the ring had brought up bupkiss, as Dean put it, Crowley had suggested that they begin digging into Emma's background, for he had suspicions that Emma was not entirely totally human and answers may lie in her past._

_Cue the visit to the tea room. They'd met with a nun from Emma's past in an orphanage. The nun turned out to be the angel Zariel and had asked to speak to Emma privately. The boys had reluctantly agreed and retreated to the lower floor in order to await for the outcome of Emma's meeting._

_The scene that now lay ahead of them was one they had feared from the moment they had heard that crash. The single bookshelf was on it's side with books spilling out all over the floor. All three of the tables were completely upside down. The chairs had been thrown around haphazardly. There was no sign of Emma or Zariel. All of this had happened with a single crash._

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

 

Dean coasted the Impala into the parking lot of the motel. It was empty, no other cars so he parked right by the door to their room. Shutting off the ignition, he finally released the pent up anger and frustration he felt inside. 

"Fuck!" He yelled hoarsely as he hit the steering wheel with both fists. "Fuck, fuck, fuck and SHIT!"

His brother, Sam, merely sighed next to him. He was feeling the frustration too. He got out of the car, slammed the door and put both of his hands on the roof of the car as he exhaled in a drawn out, painful groan.

They had just returned from following another dead end lead. Some werewolf had been talking about how he had some useful information regarding the "future Queen of Hell". At this point, the brothers were jumping to incredibly rash conclusions and they saw this one being interpreted with Emma as the future QoH. Despite Crowley denying he had told anyone about the relationship between the two of them, or that he had even proposed she become his Queen, Sam and Dean had investigated the lead anyway, only to find that the werewolf's information turned out to be that the Queen in question was in fact Abaddon and she was long dead. 

Dean slammed his door shut and stormed angrily around the car and towards the motel room. Sam started off behind him. 

"Dean, we're bound to find her sooner or later. She can't just dis..."

"Disappear into nothing, yeah, yeah Sammy, I know the speech. Just, can it for one night alright?" Dean interrupted Sam without glancing back. Sam was about to interject when he thought he heard the gravel crunch behind him, and just as he was about to turn around, an ear piecing scream echoed around the car park. With lightning reflexes, both Sam and Dean turned toward the sound, both reaching for their concealed weapons as they had no idea what they expected to see. 

The brothers were greeted by the sight of a woman trying to get up from the floor. She had sandy blonde hair that was matted with blood. She wore tattered clothing that could have been black, or could have just been soaked in blood. Her arms were bare and covered entirely in blood.

As the last echo of her scream faded from the motel car park, she toppled forward onto the gravel and lay there unmoving. Both brothers rushed forward, both their hearts beating erratically, both hoping and hoping that this bloody mess of a woman was the very woman that they had been looking for for the last year and three months. 

"Dean, it's her, it's her!" Sam shouted, with a confused mix of concern and ecstatic relief in his voice. 

"Get her inside, quick!" Dean shouted. "Cas! Cas get down here now!"

Dean fumbled with the lock to the motel room door while still shouting for Cas to "get his angelic ass out of the clouds right now!". He finally got inside and Sam placed the delicate frame of a woman gently on the bed and ran to grab water and towels and just generally anything that looks like it might help.

"Dean. I'm here, what's the problem?" Castiel appeared in the room looking concerned.

"Cas, buddy, it's Emma! We've got her, but she's... she's... so much blood.. Cas!" Dean tried to ask for help, but started to break down inside. Emma, the sassy, tough chick who had been hunting with, and then living with them, the takes-no-shit chick who they'd come to see as a part of the family, their Emma, HIS Emma was lying on the bed, unconscious, covered in blood and he had no idea what had happened to her or where she had been. Cas looked from Dean's face, to Sam's, to the unmoving body on the bed and understood at once. He went to her bedside, brushed her hair out of her face and pressed two fingers to her forehead, letting his grace pour from inside him and into her soul. 

"Did it work?" Sam asked hesitantly after a few moments. "Shouldn't she wake up now?"

"I don't know. I believe it worked, but I don't know why she is not awake. Perhaps she needs time. What happened?"

"We don't know, bud, she just turned up at the side of the car, screamed and collapsed." Dean summarised. "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know Dean." He bent over Emma and touched two fingers to her forehead again. "She has no physical wounds, she seems steady, but she is not awake. Perhaps she needs time." He suggested again.

The next few hours went by in a blur of uneventfulness. Cas had to go back to his heavenly duties, but promised to be with them in an instant should they call. Together the brothers got Emma into the bathroom, washed her skin and hair, stripped her of her clothes and got her dried again. Back on the bed, they dressed her in one of Sam's t-shirts, Dean's joggers and laid her on the bed under the covers. It had gotten dark outside while the brothers had sat at Emma's bedside, staring at her, willing her to wake up. Dean's phone began to ring and "666" flashed up on the display.

"Fuck..." he muttered under his breath and slipped out of the room showing Sam the display on his way. 

 

______________________________

 

Sam silently slipped out of the room, closing the door with a soft click in respect for the sleeping woman inside. 

"What did you tell him?" He asked quietly of his brother who had just hung up the phone.

"I told him the truth, the lead was a complete bust."

"But not that Emma practically fell from the sky this afternoon?"

"No Sammy. We just got her back, she's not even awake yet. I never liked whatever it was between the two of them, but Emma's ours and, damn it, I want to keep her to myself until she wakes up and we find out what the hell happened." Dean ranted off at his younger brother.

"Dean, I get it, and I agree with you." Sam put up both hands showing he wasn't there for a fight. "We've been so frustrated the past year and now we can finally relax. Well, a bit. She's not conscious, but she's with us again, that's better than anything I had hoped for when we started following this lead. Let's just get some rest, and figure out what we do next."

Dean relaxed and looked at the ground. Things had been incredibly tense and frustrating in the search for Emma. He definitely hadn't got any decent quality sleep since that day in Wisconsin, but Sammy was right, he could finally rest easier now. Crowley, on the other hand, was not going to rest and it was going to be difficult to keep this from him. 

"Alright. Tonight, we take it easy. Tomorrow, we get Emma back to the bunker, awake or not. I'm going to re-work the demon warding and it will be just the three of us for a while." Dean gave himself a mental pat on the back, feeling good about having a plan, and went to open the door to the motel room. He reached down for the handle, twisted and pushed open the door. 

"Hey...." a weak voice called out from the bed.

"Emma!" the brothers gasped in unison.


	18. What's real, and what's a nightmare?

I slowly became aware of lying upon something soft and warm. A welcome change from the last time I was conscious. I opened my eyes to drab, dated furniture and faded decor. A sense of familiarity pricked at my memory, a motel room.  
I vaguely remembered that the last time I tried to move, it didn't work out so well, so this time I took things slowly. I slowly lifted one arm and carefully brought the hand to my face. No more blood, my skin is clean. No more pain either, the ringing in my ears has gone, and the light isn't hurting my eyes. This is good. I used my now mobile arm to sweep the bed covers off my body, then steadying myself with both hands, slowly pushed myself into an upright position.  
I experienced no opposition from my own body, so I swung my legs slowly over the side of the mattress and came to a stop in a relatively comfortable seated position on the side of the bed.

What happened to me? How did I get here? 

The last thing I can properly remember was sitting in a cosy tea room in Wisconsin. There was a nun, someone from my past and she was telling me something. Something about souls and giving them power and then giving them to babies. No, just one soul, just one baby. My soul. I was the baby. I pictured her leaning across the table and touching my forehead, she was smiling and saying something else to me, what was it?

The door to the motel room opened suddenly and I felt a sense of relief and ecstatic happiness wash over me as I saw Dean Winchester step into the room, followed by his brother Sam. My strange little family. 

"Hey..." I managed to croak. My voice felt hoarse and almost alien to me, that must have been the first word I've spoken in a while. 

Dean strode towards me, sat down on the bed and grabbed me, pulling me into a firm hug. I was surprised at first, but I quickly relaxed into the hug, bringing my hands up to his waist and gripping his shirt. Emotions rushed through me like a freight train and hugging Dean back soon turned into a desperate clinging while tears welled up and quickly spilled down my face. 

I felt hands on my back, and I turned to see Sam's face etched with concern. That stupid, beautiful face. I released Dean and threw my arms around Sam's neck as the sobs forced their way out.

"Hey, hey, I gotcha, Emma, I gotcha." Sam's voice soothed me a little as he pressed gentle kisses onto the top of my head as I sobbed into his chest.

"We're not letting you out of our sight, nothing's going to hurt you now." Dean reassured me as he put his hand on my shoulder and offered comfort as I was overcome with sadness and grief. Grief, yes, that's what I was feeling, but why? 

I let go of trying to answer any questions and allowed my emotions to spill out of me and after a while, the sobbing and the flow of tears eased and I was able to let go of Sam and look up into his face, into those brown eyes and I managed a small smile. 

Turning away from him, I gave Dean another hug, and stood up. 

"Ummm..." I began,  it my voice threatened to fail me. I cleared my throats and started again. "I'm gonna go wash my face, do you have any food? I can't remember the last time I ate..."

"Yes!" Dean jumped up from the bed. He looked almost relieved that there was finally something he could do. "There's a diner a couple of miles down the road, I can bring something back?"

"How about we all go, it'll probably be quicker." I offered.

"Are you sure you're up to it?" Sam's concern tugged at my heart. I simply nodded and walked to the bathroom.

____________________________________________________________________

 

in the bathroom I turned on the water and looked in the mirror. My face was red and blotchy from the crying and my eyes were a little bloodshot, but the blonde hair, the blonde eyebrows, the little scar over the left eyebrow, the lavender coloured eyes, it was all me as I remembered, well, mostly. If I wasn't mistaken, my cheeks seemed to be a little thinner and my hair seemed longer too. Just how long had I been... out? Away?

i took a deep breath and turned off the water, grabbing for a towel to pat my face dry. Searching my memory for any indication as to what had happened to me. 

I closed my eyes and my inner vision was assaulted by sudden flashes of images. Bright lights, people in masks standing over me, strange tools and instruments in their hands. They were prodding at me, pushing, pulling, poking.

my heart began beating harder in my chest and my breathing quickened as the images kept going. I could barely make sense of what was happening in any of these memories, but one seemed to suddenly jump out and stick in place. Wisconsin. The nun. She was smiling at me. Her voice was muffled, but it kept on repeating over and over and over, gradually getting clearer and louder until it was ringing through my mind like a klaxon. 

_"Emma, you're with child!"_

 Sudden clarity washed over me as a fog lifted. That nun was Sister Mary Agnes as I knew her, but it turned out she was an angel, Zariel. The last thing I can remember with total clarity was the Sister describing how her job in heaven was to assign souls to newborn babies, and that one soul in particulate had been altered by another angel and given to the child of a demon. That child was me. 

And of course, I was pregnant. My gaze dropped to my stomach as my hands cradled it, but my stomach was flat, no sign of a bump. I tried to concentrate on any feelings I had there, searching for a any signs of a baby inside, but I just did not feel pregnant. I had a plethora of questions I needed answering, am I still pregnant? How long have I been gone? Where is my baby? 

Amknock at the door interrupted my thoughts, so I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and stepped out into the motel room. Sam and Dean were waiting for me, their faces etched with concern. 

"Are you sure you want to go to the diner? We can bring something back here instead?" Sam, always the sensitive one. 

"No. I need a while to think about something, the drive will be good." 

I walked past them, and out to Dean's Impala. His Baby. The nickname made me wince, but I kept it hidden and got into the back seat, slouched down and waited in silence. I vaguely heard Dean's phone ringing, but I was already drifting off back into my own thoughts, or rather, my incessant unanswerable questions. 

Muffled voices provided a background soundtrack while I sat for a few minutes, but before I could begin to wonder why nobody else was getting in the car, my door flew open and I was greeted by a deep, British accent 

"Bloody Hell!" Crowley exclaimed from outside the car.


End file.
